The U.S. Credit Rating Just Dropped. It's Time for Radical Budget Reform.
The lack of oversight and the general absence of a long-term vision is creating inefficiency, waste, and red ink as far as the eye can see.
Government Waste
Yellow Corporation To Close, Lay Off 30,000 Employees, and Likely Default on $700 Million Pandemic Aid Loan
The company blames much of its problems on the Teamsters trucking union's "intransigence," while the Teamsters say Yellow is delinquent on benefit payments.
Americans Love NASA, But Private Firms Do the Real Work in Space
People see a continuing role for the space agency, but mostly in national defense.
Tesla Solar Factory Not Living Up to New York's $1 Billion Investment
In exchange for $1 billion, the state expected 5,000 jobs and 1,000 installations a week. Instead, it reported 1,700 jobs, most of them Tesla data analysts, and 21 installations per week.
Do D.C. and Rhode Island Really Need $200 Million for Broadband Access?
How not to distribute federal funds
Trucking Company, Careening Toward Bankruptcy, Could Default on $700 Million Federal Bailout Loan
After losing more than $100 million in a single year, Yellow Corporation got a $700 million pandemic assistance loan from the government. It has only paid $230 on the principal.
Ohio E.V. Manufacturer Fails Despite Millions in Taxpayer Subsidies
Lordstown Motors received $24.5 million to operate an Ohio factory. G.M., the factory's previous owner, received $60 million before shuttering it.
Biden's $42 Billion Broadband Boondoggle
More than 90 percent of Americans already have access to high-speed internet.
Price Tag of NASA's Martian Rock Retrieval Mission Is Skyrocketing
The Mars Sample Retrieval program is now estimated to cost double than what was originally projected.
Atlanta Plans To Blow $230 Million on 2-Mile Extension of Useless Streetcar
That's more than $21,000 per foot. And the tab doesn't include operating costs, which taxpayers will also heavily subsidize.
Over $400 Billion in COVID Aid Was Stolen or Wasted
A new Associated Press analysis of government data suggests 10 percent of all COVID aid was lost to fraud or theft. That figure will likely grow.
Movie Industry Says Georgia's Film Tax Credits Are Great. State Auditors Say They're a Waste of Money.
Contradicting a new report funded by entertainment industry advocates, state auditors have cast significant doubts on the tax credit program's actual effectiveness.
For $6.5 Million, Durham Report Finds FBI Didn't Have Solid Dirt on Trump and Russia
Plus: Reexamining the roots of qualified immunity, who's really hurt by business regulations, and more...
Ridiculous Spending on Museums May Be Here To Stay
Handouts for tourist-trap museums will be part of the federal funding battleground in the next two years.
Want Less Corruption? Try Having Smaller Government.
People can never be made incorruptible. We can, however, design governmental systems filled with checks and balances that limit the temptations.
Government Watchdog Finds $60 Billion in Pandemic Unemployment Fraud, Suggests Maybe Doing Something About It
Despite multiple warnings in the past, the Department of Labor has yet to implement a comprehensive strategy for detecting unemployment insurance fraud.
Pentagon Can't Account for $220 Billion of Gear Given to Contractors
The actual total is probably higher according to the Government Accountability Office's new report.
Will We Get Private Flying Cars Before the Pentagon Manages To Get This New Jet Off the Ground?
A Swedish company will soon be delivering electric single-person aircraft that can take off and land vertically, which the F-35B struggles with despite billions in funding.
Government Spending Billions To Expand Broadband but Can't Tell Who Needs It
The Federal Communications Commission uses broadband coverage maps that are so severely flawed, states started shelling out to make their own.
Congress Has a New Scapegoat for COVID Fraud: Banking Apps
Fintech platforms facilitated fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a new congressional report.
San Francisco Wants To Spend $1.7 Million on a Single Public Toilet
Local officials argue that the eye-popping sum is necessary due to rising construction costs, but experts disagree.
We Told You Why and How California's High-Speed Rail Wouldn't Work. You Chose Not To Listen.
The New York Times newsroom illustrates what happens when you listen to the New York Times editorial board.
Millions of PPP Loans Were Flagged as Potentially Fraudulent. Many Were Never Investigated.
A new report takes an illustrative look inside the Small Business Administration, which was clearly overwhelmed by the obligation to push unprecedented piles of money out the door quickly.
Don't Use Immigrants as Political Pawns
The best rebuke to the Biden administration's inhumane border policies is for Republican governors to welcome migrants into their states.
San Francisco Spent Over $20,000 on a Trash Can
“We need to have a trash can that works for the city of San Francisco,” said city project manager Lisa Zhuo.
The Army Thinks Printers Cost Over $1 Million
Poor accounting practices mean the Department of Defense can't even tell how much money or equipment it has lost.
Federal COVID Aid to States and Localities Cost $855,000 Per Job Saved
A new paper reveals that the state and local bailout was not only unnecessary but incredibly wasteful.
Why Everything About Politics Sucks, in 1 Chart
Only 6 percent of Americans say the federal government is extremely "careful with taxpayer money," yet those same Americans consistently report that they want the government to do more.
Watchdog Report: At Least 20 Percent of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Dollars Wasted
A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that nearly $80 billion was paid out to ineligible beneficiaries or outright fraudsters.
Do We Really Need 100 Different Federal Programs To Fund Broadband?
A new GAO report finds that the government lacks a "national strategy with clear roles, goals, objectives, and performance measures."
The V.A. Bought 10,000 iPhones for Veterans. 8,544 of Them Were Never Used.
The department lost nearly $2.4 million on data plans for iPhones and iPads that sat in storage.
We Can't Fund COVID Treatments for the Uninsured Because We Spent Trillions of COVID Aid on Wasteful Garbage
Congress used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to throw money around in ways that would be comedic if the results weren't so tragic.
Audit: L.A. Spending as Much as $837,000 per Unit of Housing for Homeless
Despite apportioning over $1 billion for homeless housing, cost overruns and sluggish pacing threaten to jeopardize the city project.
Rand Paul: Feds Wasted $52 Billion on Slot Machine-Playing Pigeons, COVID Aid, Afghanistan, and More
No wonder the federal budget is so out of whack.
Georgia Tax Crimes Unit Illegally Spent Asset Forfeiture Funds on Trinkets and Swag
A state watchdog concluded an office in the Georgia Department of Tax Revenue illegally kept $5 million in forfeiture funds and spent it partially on swag like sunglasses and engraved guns
After Toppling Al Qaeda, America Wasted a Staggering Amount of Money in Afghanistan
There will likely never be a full accounting of the war's cost, but as much as $600 billion might have simply vanished due to waste, fraud, and incompetence.
Post Apocalypse
Neither rain nor sleet nor snow will stop the U.S. Postal Service. But a pandemic on top of a political fiasco? That's a first-class problem.
New Treasury Data Shows That the Rollout of Emergency Rent Relief Continues to Be a Hot Mess
Congress approved $25 Billion in emergency rental assistance in December. Only 6 percent of that money has been spent so far.
Broadway Hit Hamilton Could Get Up to $50 Million Federal Bailout
It must be nice to have Washington's pile of taxpayer cash on your side.
Critics Warned the Largest Tax Increase in San Francisco History Would Be Ill-Spent. It's Now Funding $60,000 Tents for the Homeless.
San Francisco politicians are raising eyebrows at the high costs of an emergency program that provides secure camping sites to the city's homeless.
There Has Been a Mind-Boggling Amount of Unemployment Fraud Since the CARES Act Passed
Enhanced unemployment benefits may have helped many Americans weather the pandemic, but they've also attracted the interest of some modern-day Willie Suttons.
Bringing Earmarks Back Won't Fix Congress
Eliminating earmarks didn't make the government smaller. But reinstating them would facilitate legislative corruption.