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CapMetro Planning For Urban Rail Before Voter Approval

Updated: Monday, December 3 2012, 10:09 PM CST

Austin already has metro rail, but in the city's plan for the future of transportation, urban rail is another possibility.

But before that happens, an urban rail plan has to go on the ballot and be approved by taxpayers; something that hasn't happened yet.

So why is the city already hiring someone to plan an urban rail project two years before voters could potentially approve it?

In a KEYE TV Waste Watch investigation, we dug into how your tax dollars are being spent.

It's the age old question: Which comes first, the employee or the job? In Capital Metro's case, the answer is the employee.

"We're looking at a two year contract, still trying to hammer out the details," said Capital Metro CEO Linda Watson.

Capital Metro and the City of Austin are in the middle of a nationwide search to hire an Urban Rail Project Lead.

Urban Rail is one idea for Capital Metros' comprehensive transportation plan; one that's been studied but not yet approved by taxpayers.

KEYE TV sat down with Capital Metro's CEO Linda Watson to ask her if it was a waste of taxpayer money to hire someone for a project that doesn't yet exist.

"Hiring this person ensures we do this process the right way," said Watson. "That we get a lot of public input and we plan something the community does want."

Watson clarified this hire won't run an urban rail system, they'll develop it. It's a way of ensuring that when a plan does go before voters, it will pass.

"If we develop on our own a system that isn't supported by the public, we've wasted money," said Watson. âBut doing it this way, with a lot of public input, you end up developing a system that's wanted by the public."

"I think that's needed. I think it's really needed," said Capital Metro rider Danika Saenz.

Danika Saenz takes a Capital Metro bus and train to work every day. She says she's in favor of spending tax payer dollars that will move along a rail expansion and help ease Austin's congestion woes.

"I mean why not, if it's going to benefit everyone, and a lot of people do use public transportation, then why not?" she said.

Phase one of an Urban Rail project could cost $550 million, according to the Austin Urban Rail website. By hiring a person to oversee the project’s development, Watson says it could make the city eligible for millions in federal grant money.

Watson said she hopes to have the Urban Rail Project Lead position filled shortly after the New Year. She didn’t have an estimate on how much the position would pay for the two year salary.

By Karen Kiley

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Government spent more than $16 billion on advertising, marketing in last decade The government has spent more than $16 billion over the last decade on outside advertising, marketing and public relations contractors, feeding a cottage industry of inside-the-Beltway and Madison Avenue firms that help federal agencies burnish their images and tailor their messages, an investigation by the Washington Guardian and Northwestern University's Medill News Service has found.
State Department: Andrew W.K. Won't Party In Bahrain On Government Dime Andrew W.K., whom NPR Music described as the "long-haired, wild-eyed, keyboard-pounding, sublimely over-the-top party-rocker," won't be taking his party to Bahrain. At least not on the government's dime.
Harbor to nowhere: Stimulus-funded Alaska harbor project without road access In what seems like a reprisal of the “Bridge to Nowhere” fiasco, Alaska’s federally funded small-boat harbor in the village of Akutan is completed — but there is no road to get there.
Government paid $1.5 billion unnecessarily to nursing facilities Medicare, Medicaid win a Hammer after probe finds they were billed for therapy at nursing facilities that was exaggerated or unnecessary
FHA projected to exhaust reserves, could need bailout The Federal Housing Administration, which has played a crucial role in stabilizing the housing market, said it ended September with $16.3 billion in projected losses -- a possible prelude to a taxpayer bailout.
Pentagon slammed for spending money on breweries, dinosaur study Sen. Tom Coburn, a fiscal conservative, says Pentagon is spending too much on frivolous non-defense items
Watchdog: Coburn report IDs $68 billion in DOD spending cuts The Pentagon is squandering billions of dollars annually on everything from its own brand of beef jerky and microbreweries to religious debates involving mythical Klingons from the TV show "Star Trek," according to a scathing report on military spending issued today by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
Rules fail to restrain big-spending VA officials Big-spending U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials got star treatment when they planned a $6.1 million pair of controversial human resources training conferences in Orlando last year.
Quarter-billion-dollar stimulus grant creates just 400 jobs Battery maker A123 Systems vowed thousands of new jobs when it received a nearly quarter-billion-dollar stimulus grant in late 2009, but federal job-tracking figures show only a few hundred positions were created before the company joined a growing list of federally backed energy businesses that ended in bankruptcy.
Spending on White House dinners soars under Obama President Obama has spent far more lavishly on White House state dinners than previous chief executives, including nearly $1 million on a 2010 dinner for Mexico's president, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.
Tennessee 'Greenbelt Law' Helps Wealthiest Reap Tax Breaks, From Wynona Judd To Billy Ray Cyrus Country music royalty including Billy Ray Cyrus and The Judd's are among a star studded list of of wealthy Tennesseans who are reportedly taking advantage of loopholes in their tax code in order to claim huge breaks on estates and undeveloped land.
Bored workers play cards at clean energy firm that got federal funds Workers at a Michigan electric car battery making firm that got millions of federal economic recovery funds have so little to do that they sit around playing cards, watching movies and reading magazines.
Wastebook 2012: Government Wasting Your Money? Read the entire report from OK Senator Tiom Coburn.
Annual "Wastebook" Released Highlighting 100 Cases of Tax Dollar Waste Robotic squirrels, Martian food and more caviar. All these are government projects being paid for with your tax dollars.
TARP cost $24 billion, says CBO Originally projected to have made a profit for taxpayers, a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the Troubled Asset Relief Program instead cost $24 billion.
Taxpayer-Backed Green Energy Firms Subpoenaed by Federal Watchdog The Treasury Department’s top watchdog has opened an investigation into a popular grant program that helped finance a host of green energy projects, according to a recent SEC filing by one of the companies under investigation.
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse In Government-Run Medical Programs A report prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) providesconclusive evidence of overbilling fraud on a massive scale ...
Dept. of Transportation Subcontractors Arrested In Connection With Grate Thefts Along I-95 According to PennDOT, they have been “mysteriously disappearing” over the last year, putting drivers in danger.
REPORT: Feds paid $40M to firms tied to Sen. Claire McCaskill's husband... Businesses affiliated with the husband of Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill received almost $40 million of federal subsidies for low-income housing developments during her first five years in office.
Biden’s claim that the Romney tax plan would raise Social Security taxes Cue the scary music. Having repeatedly — misleadingly — beaten up the GOP presidential ticket for its plan to overhaul Medicare, Vice President Biden traveled to Florida last week to allege that Mitt Romney plans to raise taxes on Social Security benefits.
Report: Billions spent on more than 1,500 solar projects A Government Accountability Office report shows that there were 65 federal initiatives to support solar technology in 2010 and 2011.
Sources, documents suggest government-subsidized Abound Solar was selling faulty product Seven months after calling themselves the “anti-Solyndra,” the Colorado-based solar panel manufacturer Abound Solar announced it was filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, arguing that cheap Chinese solar panels flooding the market caused their demise.
VA employees turned Orlando conferences into taxpayer funded vacations Events costs taxpayers more than $6 million while federal workers took free massages, limo rides, helicopter tours and Rockettes show tickets
Debt Jumped $1.2759T in FY 2012; Up $10,855 Per Household in Just 12 Months; Beats 2011 That means the federal government borrowed approximately an additional $10,855 for each household in the United States just over the past twelve months.
Almost 2,400 people in millionaire homes received unemployment benefits in 2009 Almost 2,400 people who received unemployment insurance in 2009 lived in households with annual incomes of $1 million or more, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Amtrack Shows Government Waste At Work: The 16 Dollar Hamburger Your Taxes Fund In a nation where Barbie says that "math is hard," people still have the math skills to understand that Amtrak's $16 burger that sells for $9.50 is a bad deal. Maybe the world's worst premium-priced burger could be the symbol that finally opens the floodgates of real reform.
Watchdog: USDA spends millions for globe-trotting conferences Federal farming gurus have spent nearly $56 million in recent years attending conferences around the world to talk about everything from bugs and bacteria to dirt and diversity.
Stimulus-Funded Housing Project Installs Anti-Bedbug Sauna A Portland, Oregon public housing complex – partially funded by federal stimulus dollars – is using a specially built "bedbug sauna" to combat infestation of the tiny parasites.
CBO: Even with subsidies, electric cars are still uncompetitive Federal subsidies for new electric cars still aren’t enough to make them competitive with conventional gas-powered cars and traditional hybrids, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report.
VA admits spending $100 million on conferences in 2011 t turns out the Department of Veterans Affairs spent $100 million on conferences last year - not the $20 million it previously claimed - and it didn't account for that money to a Congressional committee demanding details, either.
Feds say no to 'Made in Germany' on small Indiana town's 'Buy American' machinery Memo to the water department in Nappanee, Ind.: It's hard to say you're "buying American" when what you bought is stamped "Made in Germany."
Wall Street Journal: General Motors pushing U.S. to sell stake: Government Says No he Treasury Department is resisting General Motors' push for the government to sell off its stake in the auto maker, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Utah Rep.: ‘The U.S. Military Is Spending $20 Million for Firewood’ During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) revealed that the U.S. military is currently spending about $20 million on firewood. That’s right, firewood.
Solyndra lawsuit: Full refund to taxpayers Many Americans were upset when solar-panel maker Solyndra filed for bankruptcy last September owing taxpayers more than $500 million, but retiree Robert Grady Jr. was different. The more he read about the failed company, the more irritated he became. Read more: Solyndra lawsuit: Full refund to taxpayers
Senate report highlights Social Security disability benefit abuses A woman was awarded Social Security disability benefits because of "crippling hand pain" from carpel tunnel syndrome, but still managed to work as a bartender.
House votes to limit agency 'junkets' after GSA Vegas folly The House voted Tuesday to cap federal agency spending on conferences at $500,000 per meeting and to limit the number of people who can attend.
Pentagon Buying Volts; Helping to Save Troubled GM Green Car? The Pentagon is buying Chevrolet Volts to help “green up” the military—while propping up sales of the bailed-out automaker’s most politicized car.
GM denies losses of $49,000 on every Chevrolet Volt General Motors is dismissing a media report describing the Chevrolet Volt, its extended-range electric car, as a major money loser. Those reports, the automakers says in a statement, are "grossly wrong."
CBO: $1.17 trillion deficit for first eleven months in 2012 The U.S. Treasury Department will report a $1.17 trillion deficit for the 11 month of the fiscal year this year, according to the CBO Monthly Budget Review.
Pentagon spends on chauffeur uniforms; VA can't explain where rent profits go Pentagon executives' chauffeurs are in line to get new outfits at taxpayer expense. Meanwhile, a member of Congress says he can't get answers about how the VA spends millions of dollars it makes from renting out property it owns.
Happy Solyndra Anniversary! One-Year Since Tax Payers Lost a Half Billion Dollars Take a look back at the big Solyndra money loss and scandal that followed about waste of taxpayer money.
Administration: Bingo Games Can Promote Food Stamp Use The USDA wants to add to the record 46.7 million Americans who receive food stamps, including seniors the agency says could be convinced to sign up for the government program through parties featuring games like Bingo and crosswords.
CBO: Under Current Law, Unemployment Will Rise Next Year to 9.1% The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is projecting that if changes in federal taxing-and-spending policies already enacted and set to take effect at the beginning of next year do in fact take place, the unemployment rate will climb to 9.1 percent.
California Spending More On Prisons Than Colleges, Report Says There's a direct relationship between how much money the Golden State spends on prisons and how much it spends on higher education, according to a report put out by the non-partisan public policy group California Common Sense. When one goes up, the other goes down.
$10 Trillion Withdrawn From U.S. Treasury This Fiscal Year Alone, Treasury Says Although the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government will spend $3.563 trillion in fiscal year 2012 and the White House Office of Management estimates it will be $3.795 trillion, actual withdrawals from the U.S. Treasury have already exceeded $10 trillion.
GSA official reprimanded for planning party to celebrate herself The General Services Administration’s Julia Hudson was ready to party last month, inviting roughly 1,200 federal employees to celebrate the second anniversary of her appointment as the scandal-scarred agency’s National Capital Region administrator.
Report: US Health Care System Wastes $750B A Year The U.S. health care system squanders $750 billion a year — roughly 30 cents of every medical dollar — through unneeded care, byzantine paperwork, fraud and other waste, the influential Institute of Medicine said Thursday in a report that ties directly into the presidential campaign.
Would More Stimulus Reduce Food Stamp Rolls? (VIDEO) Barney Frank says yes.
Congressman Urges New GSA Commissioner to Utilize Civilian BRAC Process to Eliminate Waste within the Agency “In the face of a $16 trillion debt, it’s time we get serious about eliminating waste and increasing efficiency in our government," Congressman Jeff Denham said.
Government waste ‘pork watch’ at State Fair An interesting story from the Oregon State Fair...about searching for government waste.
Congress Wants To Know: Did Your Stimulus Dollars Pay For Ads on MSNBC? Washington Times: “We understand this contract used taxpayer dollars to purchase advertisements on MSNBC during ‘Countdown With Keith Olbermann’ and ‘The Rachel Maddow Show,’” the lawmakers wrote.
Washington Guardian: Dem congressman spent donations on family trip, graduation The House Ethics Committee is taking more time to review allegations that a congressman representing New Jersey misused campaign funds by spending them on personal expenses, including a family trip to Scotland and a high school graduation party for his daughter.
VA spent millions on six days of Hawaii games More than $2.5 million was spent last year by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on a six-day series of sporting events for aging veterans at a posh Hawaiian resort.
Fed agencies defend fortunes spent on hippest chairs in the office Federal bureaucrats are addicted to Aerons, the trendy ergonomic chairs that can sell for more than $1,000 apiece.
Federal Cuts Threaten Taps Being Performed Live At Military Funerals With federal funding being cut, they may have to switch to a recording as opposed to a live tribute.
Agencies resist Congress on conference spending data Demands for a full accounting of federal conference costs are being rebuffed by agencies that can't or won't produce spending records sought by Congress.
Solyndra investors could reap tax windfall Two investment companies stand to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks under a bankruptcy exit plan for failed solar company Solyndra, government lawyers say.
Watchdog: VA spent $90K on conference coffee breaks The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $90,747 on coffee and refreshments during morning and afternoon breaks at a pair of training conferences in Orlando last year.
After Federal Grant, Taxpayer questions $800 thousand to beautify bridge A federal grant will pay for $800 thousand dollars to give a Cobb County, Georgia bridge a makeover, and one resident believes it's a misuse of his tax dollars.
Taxpayers could lose big on Solyndra factory sale A sale for the bankrupt Energy Department loan guarantee recipient Solyndra could yield a huge loss for taxpayers.
D’oh! US Postal Service wasted $1.2 million on ‘Simpsons’ stamps The U.S. Postal Service — which is currently in the throes of snowballing debt — wasted $1.2 million on the production of “Simpsons” themed stamps, according to an inspector general’s report.
You Paid $52,000 for a Movie Parody for a Commercial A $52,000 parody of the opening sequence in the movie "Patton" commissioned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and paid for with taxpayer dollars was released by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Pentagon says it spent $208 million on conferences Department of Defense (DOD) officials have spent more than $200 million since 2007 hosting conferences on topics ranging from protecting combat forces to breast cancer research.
More Taes or Spending Cuts? CBO Says We Must Decide Congress‘ chief scorekeeper warned that the country’s top lawmakers can’t continue to put off big decisions on the budget and the economy much longer, and said either path — belt-tightening now or even deeper cuts later — will be painful.
Labor Department spends stimulus funds for ads during Olbermann, Maddow shows The Labor Department paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funds to a public relations firm to run more than 100 commercials touting the Obama administration’s “green training” job efforts on two MSNBC cable shows, records show.
General Motors Is Headed For Bankruptcy -- Again (After You Bailed Them Out) From Forbes.com: President Obama is proud of his bailout of General Motors. That’s good, because, if he wins a second term, he is probably going to have to bail GM out again.
Did Biden Donor Receive $20 Million Federal Loan to Start Auto Dealership in Ukraine? n late July, John Hynansky — a longtime friend of Vice President Joe Biden, and a major donor to Biden’s campaigns as well as President Barack Obama’s — was awarded a $20 million taxpayer loan to build a foreign-car dealership in Ukraine.
Pentagon wastes billions by failing to coordinate drone technology The military is failing to coordinate development of aerial drones, costing taxpayers unnecessary billions.
U.S. Government's Foreign Debt Hits Record $5.29 Trillion The money the U.S. government owes to foreign entities rose to a record $5.2923 trillion in June, according to data released by the U.S. Treasurythis week.
Select Group of Federal Retirees Collect Six-Figure Pensions More than 21,000 retired federal workers receive lifetime government pensions of $100,000 or more per year, a USA TODAY/Gannett analysis finds.
Some House freshmen getting comfortable with Washington ways A new Sunlight Foundation analysis finds extensive evidence that more than a few of the 2010 freshmen are giving in to Washington's ways on the campaign finance and lobbying fronts.
Texas' Congress members double-dip with public pensions Of Texas' 34-member Congressional delegation, 12 are taking a pension from a public retirement plan, according to financial disclosures filed by the politicians.
Some California ‘Meter Maids’ Are Making Nearly $100K a Year Brian Calle at the Orange County Register notes that for just 10 Hermosa Beach state employees, taxpayers are paying more than $1 million in bloated salaries, health, and retirement benefits. These are not highly-trained specialists, but what are sometimes referred to as “meter maids” .
Taxpayers to Lose $25 Billion on Auto Bailout, Not $3.3 billion The Treasury underestimated how much money taxpayers would lose on the auto bailout by 15 percent or $21.7 billion. That's right, they missed the estimate by $21.7 billion.
Former TARP IG met 'huge, huge resistance' from Treasury, DOJ Neil Barofsky, the first and now-former Special Inspector-General for the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (SIGTARP), says he met "huge, huge resistance from day one" within and without the federal government and on Wall Street in his effort to investigate how the $700 billion expenditure was administered, what was done with the tax dollars by the banks and other financial institutions that received loans through it in the great bailout of 2008, and whether the effort accomplished what Congress intended.
Chart Shows How Much New Debt has Been Added Since the Senate Passed a Budget The Senate Budget Committee Republican staff under Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) released the following chart:
USDA announces plans to cut down on food stamp fraud Amid mounting pressure to pass a House farm bill, the United States Department of Agriculture announced new plans to crack down on food stamps fraud.
USDA spends $2M, gets one intern, program fails United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials spent $2 million on an internship program that had one intern, as it failed to use properly $63 million in federal funding provided for USDA to protect itself from hackers.
Should The First Lady Get A Paycheck? The President was speaking to a group of supporters — mostly women — in Denver and he appeared to float the idea
Your Money: Obama signs bill requiring detailed ‘sequester’ report to Congress President Barack Obama now has 30 days to give Congress a detailed report on exactly how the sequester budget cuts will affect domestic and military programs.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac report profitable quarters, still owe taxpayers $146.5 billion Fannie Mae is reporting a $2.2 billion profit for last quarter. This is only the second quarterly gain for the mortgage giant since being taken over by government conservatorship in 2008.
Trillion dollar bank insurance program may sneak into legislation A little-known bank insurance program implemented in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis may quietly slip into legislation and become permanent.
Washignton Times: Government waste not simply a Washington problem Opinion: Local legislators take a page from federal handbook
Analysis: Real stimulus spending is at least $2.5 trillion since 2008 Tom Firey of the libertarian Cato Institute estimates that the U.S. has dumped at least $2.5 trillion of fiscal stimulus into the economy since 2008.
‘Outrageous’: Amtrak Employees Likely Stealing $4-$7 Million in Food Each Year Amtrak lost more than $800 million on its food and beverage services over the last 10 years, largely because of waste, employee theft and lack of proper oversight, government auditors have found.
New GM's turn to subprime loans could prevent bailout payback to taxpayers Revelations that the New General Motors is using increased subprime lending to power its recent sales may doom any chance that taxpayers will ever recover the still-unpaid chunk of the $49.5 billion the federal government spent in 2009 bailing out the former auto industry giant.
Solyndra Reform Law Planned Amid White House Jeering New law comes after repeated failures by "green" companies which received government loans.
Solyndra Applauds: "Bank of Washington" Solyndra’s CEO labeled President Barack Obama’s administration “The Bank of Washington.” Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/02/obamas-bank-of-washington-applauded-by-solyndra-ceo-in-email/#ixzz22QaEx2Bo
Rubio Introduces Bill to Eliminate Olympic Medal Tax Winners must pay tax on honorariums.
60 House Bills to Name Post Offices, Zero To Fix Mail Service In the 18 months the 112 th Congress has been sworn in, the House has introduced 60 bills to rename post offices.
Junkets held by Education Department cost taxpayers $1.5m a year Federal education officials spend more than $1.5 million every year on a gathering of college financial aid administrators held at high-end vacation destinations.
Harry Reid open to bill that would fire federal workers owing $1 billion total in back taxes [VIDEO] The total dollar amount of taxes owed by federal employees is $3.4 billion if retirees and military personal are included (almost 280,000 workers), according the most recent IRS data available.
How to rip off the taxpayer: SIGTARP shares secrets Investigators overseeing the federal bank bailout program have turned up multiple ways dishonest bankers tried to scam taxpayers out of their money -- a whole bunch of their money.
U.S. Audit: $200M Wasted on Iraqi Police Training U.S. auditors have concluded that more than $200 million was wasted on a program to train Iraqi police that Baghdad says is neither needed nor wanted.
Obama Budget Forecast Predicts $8.3 Trillion Over Next Decade The number comes as part of a 10-year budget forecast.
'USA! USA!' Congressman's Anti-Big Government Rant Gets Standing Ovation On House Floor Congressman gets a standing ovation after a passionate speech about how big government is killing jobs in his district.
Judge Sentences Detroit Lottery Winner Who Also Collected Welfare (Your Money) to… Remember Amanda Clayton? If the name doesn’t sound familiar, the story likely will. She’s the Detroit-area woman who was caught in March collecting welfare despite winning a $735,000 lottery prize.
Who Will Pay For $7 Billion Amtrak Renovation? Amtrak is proposing a $7 billion transformation of Union Station, intended to triple passenger capacity and transform the overcrowded station into a high-speed rail hub for the Northeast.
Medicare Bonuses? Guess Who's Getting Them? House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa berated a top Obama administration official at a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday over a Medicare bonus program that federal investigators say is ineffective and should be cancelled.
Ron Paul wins: House votes to audit the Federal Reserve House lawmakers voted today to have an independent audit the Federal Reserve take place, a process that will probe the Wall Street bailouts and other Federal Reserve decisions since the 2008 financial crisis.
GAO: 2011 Debt Ceiling Showdown Cost $1.3 Billion A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds that last year’s debt ceiling showdown between House Republicans and the White House cost the government $1.3 billion – increasing market uncertainty and raising federal borrowing costs.
Woman Who Exposed GSA Waste Also Wasting Your Tax Dollars? An internal website on the GSA’s vast computer network showed images of Ms. Brita at another wasteful GSA conference. This time, she wasn’t the whistleblower, but just another high-level GSA official having a good time
New solar failure got subsidies from Dems and GOP? Amonix announced last week it was closing down its 214,000-square-foot Las Vegas factory that makes solar panels.
Earnings Show Recession May Be 'Fast Approaching' While this quarter's earnings reports have crossed a substantially lowered profit bar, future expectations through the year indicate a recession could be on the way.
Potential Increase in Death Tax Could Make 2013 An Expensive Year To Die Changes on Jan. 1, 2013 could affect many families at already tough times.
35 states got too much stimulus funding Thirty five of the 50 states got more economic stimulus funding to help them with their Medicaid budgets than they should have, according to the Inspector-General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-IG).
Troubled federal agency paid for cooking classes, hosted holiday video contest Amid an ongoing congressional probe into the General Services Administration, a CNN investigation has uncovered more evidence of wasteful spending at the agency, including cooking classes for employees that cost as much as $3,350 per class.
NASCAR wins fight to keep taxpayer funding A deeply divided House voted to continue letting the Pentagon use taxpayer money to sponsor sports leagues and teams — a victory chiefly for NASCAR, which had fought feverishly to maintain tens of millions of dollars that go to some of its teams every year.
Should You Be Taxed... Just to Drive? The San Francisco Bay Area is considering a long-range plan to become the first place in the nation to tax drivers for every mile they travel, with an average bill of up to $1,300 per year.
Gov. Wants Road Repaired So Michelle Obama Doesn't Have a Bumpy Ride In an effort to prevent Michelle Obama from enduring a bumpy ride to a fundraiser at his Berkshire mansion, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s office has requested that town officials plug potholes on the road to his residence.
Busted again! GSA spent $270,000 on one-day awards ceremony Fresh off the Las Vegas conference scandal that cost the General Services Administration (GSA) chief her job, House investigators have learned of a one-day GSA awards ceremony that cost over $270,000 in 2010.
$225,000 in Stimulus Money Will Put Solar Waterheater in County Jail The Department of Energy has doled out $225,000 in stimulus money to heat hot water at a jail in Frederick County, Md.
For the First Time, Canadians Now Richer Than Americans For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is richer than the average American, according to a report cited in Toronto's Globe and Mail.
Congresswoman enjoys a publication called ‘The Fat Sandwich,’ at tax payer expense Americans may know Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro for her progressive politics and edgy fashion sense, but according to disbursement forms, she also enjoys a publication called “The Fat Sandwich.”
U.S. official says government wasted $6-8 billion in Iraq reconstruction The official in charge of monitoring America’s $51 billion effort to reconstruct Iraq has estimated that $6 billion to $8 billion of that amount was lost to waste, fraud and abuse.
Energy Dept. 'Unable to Locate' $500,000 in Equipment Bought With Stimulus Money An audit conducted by the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General was "unable to locate" $500,000 worth of equipment purchased with stimulus money by a recipient of funds distributed through the deparment's “Advanced Batteries and Hybrid Components Program,” according to an audit report published by the OIG.
New Jersey Cities Abusing Pension Law May Waste Millions New Jersey local governments failed to remove hundreds of contractors such as lawyers and engineers from pension rolls, which may cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year of improper payouts, a state audit shows.
States Ows $30 billion in loans to feds Twenty-two states owe after borrowing to pay for unemployment benefits.
Circuit Court of Appeals Cancels Lavish 2013 conference Amid Controversy Under pressure from Republican senators over its upcoming conference in Hawaii, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has canceled next year's scheduled meeting in Monterey, citing budget constraints.
Congresswoman calls out government waste; Another "meeting" with your money An engineering and research division within the Commerce Department called NIST held a conference in Orlando in May. The Congresswoman says her evidence shows the conference cost significant tax dollars without obvious benefits for taxpayers.
Income tax-delinquent FCC employees owe more than $1 million Many government employees at the Federal Communications Commission have failed to pay taxes they owe..
Senators tell judges to cancel Hawaii junket Senate Republicans told the 9th Circuit Court to cancel its mid-August trip to Hawaii, saying the court failed to prove why the trip was necessary even though it had been given weeks to respond.
Congresswoman demands investigation into millions of taxpayer dollars used for Disney World conference Florida Republican Rep. Sandy Adams is digging into a federal agency she said has misused millions in taxpayer dollars for, among other things, a trip to Disney World.
Price tag for tariff waivers at least $80 million: Examiner analysis Bayer wants a tariff break worth at least $10 million a year. DuPont wants a similar break for $4.8 million a year. GE, $1.4 million. And Spalding — the sporting goods folks — want at least $1 million.
Government under fire for 'novela' ad campaign promoting food stamp enrollment The Department of Agriculture is coming under fire for its "aggressive" ad campaign, including a 10-part series of Spanish-language "novelas," to convince people to go on food stamps -- at a time when one in seven are already enrolled.
After Solyndra Failure, DOE Official Calls Energy Loan Program an ‘Enormous Success’ During a hearing on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) loan guarantee program for “green” energy projects on Thursday, DOE Loan Program Office Acting Executive Director David Frantz had some surprising news: contrary to report, after report, after report, the program has actually been an “enormous success.”
Are You Willing to Foot the Bill For Another Stimulus? A few Federal Reserve policy makers said the central bank will probably need to take more action to boost the labor market and meet its inflation target, according to minutes of their June meeting.
$62 Million "Railroad to Nowhere" with Your Tax Dollars? The train carried 412,200 people last year.
Taxpayer’s Right to Know Act Will Cost Taxpayers $100M to implement The Congressional Budget Office has found that a proposed bill that aims to provide detailed publicly available reports of federal programs will cost $100 million to implement over a five year span, Federal News Radio reports.
Another Rich Person Dumps Citizenship to Avoid Paying U.S. Taxes Socialite Denise Rich dumped her U.S. citizenship to avoid paying taxes here. She's the wife of a pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich.
MA Gov Welfare Card Restrictions Would Still Allow Purchases at Nail Salons MA lawmakers are battling over how to restrict welfare purchases. But, even the governor's plan doesn't stop some purchases.
PA town slashes employees to minimum wage http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/09/political-statemate-leads-to-city-workers-salaries-cut-down-to-minimum-wage-in/
CBO: Federal spending dropping but trillion-dollar deficit still likely The federal government ran a $60 billion deficit in June and is already more than $900 billion in the red this fiscal year, but there is some bright news: basic government spending appears to be dropping, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.
The Rich: Chicago Abortionist Collects $3.1 Million In Medicaid Reimbursements–In One Year According to a Crain’s Business report, Dr. Caroline Hoke received $3.1 million dollars in Medicaid reimbursements in the 2009 fiscal year for abortion services.
Transportation Workers Receive Big Pay Hikes, Worth It? The average salary of TxDOT's 10 highest paid workers topped $200,000 as of April 1 — 21.4 percent above that average a year earlier. The top three salaries, at an average of almost $251,000, were 42.5 percent higher than the top three salaries' average a year earlier.
Welfare Loophole: Sisters Make $540,000 Babysitting Their Kids A four-month investigation of the $340 million taxpayer-funded "Wisconsin Shares" welfare childcare program found the program rife with abuse and loopholes.
As GM shares near record low, taxpayer loss on bailout rises to $35 billion The Treasury still owns 26.5% of GM, or 500 million shares. Taxpayers are still out $26.4 billion in direct aid. Shares would have to hit $53 for the government to break even.
Bankrupt Colo. solar firm sticks taxpayers for $68 million, doomed by poor quality Despite glowing press clippings in which the CEO of Colorado-based Abound Solar claimed seven months ago that his company was the “anti-Solyndra,” the green-energy firm has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.
Gov’t Waste: Michigan Using Tax Dollars to Fight Drunk Driving With — ‘Interactive Urinal Communicators’? In preparation for what they expect to be a rowdy, booze-fueled Fourth of July holiday, the Michigan State Police’s Office of Highway Safety Planning is distributing 400 “Interactive Urinal Communicators” that warn patrons about drunk driving to restaurants and bars in four different counties (Wayne, Bay, Ottawa and Delta).
A $6 billion nuke shack? Department of Energy officials concede that existing government installations can handle everything they want done at their proposed $6 billion Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility
USDA Suggests Food Stamp Parties! Is the government begging people to join a program funded by your tax dollars?
Top Secret: Feds Won't Say What Food Stamps Buy (with Your Tax Dollars) Americans spend $80 billion a year financing food stamps for the poor, but the country has no idea where or how the money is spent.
With No Vote, Taxpayers Stuck With Tab on Bonds Surprised local taxpayers are finding themselves obligated for parking garages, hockey arenas and other enterprises that can no longer pay their debts
Green company creates three jobs in three years, gets another $80 million from DOE Department of Energy officials gave a New Hampshire-based biofuel company access to $80 million for a Michigan project that has already fallen short of job creation expectations, despite receiving another $40 million in state and DOE subsidies
On Green Jobs and DOE Loans, Jury Still Out Loans with your money have not brought the big changes Washington had hoped for.
Congressman's wife collected unemployment benefits Rep. Joe Heck's wife collected unemployment benefits in 2011, according to financial disclosure forms filed with the House in May.
Army told to spend or lose mobile tech funds The Pentagon is planning deep spending cuts this year to a new mobile computing network for soldiers — a move that critics say punishes Army technology buyers for not spending appropriated funds fast enough.
Senate: No taxpayer cash for conventions A bipartisan push to eliminate millions of federal dollars earmarked to each party’s conventions was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate.
$267B more to Operation Twist The Federal Reserve announced it is committing $267 billion for continuing Operation Twist, the central bank’s program to keep long-term interest rates low and stimulate the economy.
Actor Sues DMV (and taxpayers indirectly) for Backing Out of Reality Series Ashton Kutcher's production company is suing California's Department of Motor Vehicles for allegedly getting cold feet and backing out of a deal to participate in a reality series based on its employees. Since it's the DMV, is he also inidrectly suring CA taxpapers?
Was Clemens trial waste of taxpayers' money? Column: So when is enough, enough? How much of our money has to be wasted on "trophy" trials that result in acquittals before the government changes its foolhardy ways?
Tracking Your Money: Congress pulls floor out from under Eisenhower Memorial Commission Opponents of the design for the proposed national memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower won a major victory when the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission’s (EMC) $59.84 million budgetary request for fiscal year (FY) 2013 was flat-out denied.
$9 Billion in ‘Stimulus’ for Solar, Wind Projects Made 910 Final Jobs -- $9.8 Million Per Job The Obama administration distributed $9 billion in economic “stimulus” funds to solar and wind projects in 2009-11 that created, as the end result, 910 “direct” jobs -- annual operation and maintenance positions -- meaning that it cost about $9.8 million to establish each of those long-term jobs.
$5.7 Billion in Taxpayer Money Spent So Far to Encourage Use of Electronic Health Records The Obama administration has paid more than $5.7 billion in the past year to health professionals to encourage the use of electronic health records, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced.
EXCLUSIVE: Secret Service agents partied like rock stars on Obamas' Vineyard Vacation Long before President Obama's security detail was scandalized in Colombia and new revelations emerged last week about the Secret Service, members of the elite team earned an "Animal House" reputation at the blueblood vacation mecca of Martha's Vineyard.
Kan. company suspected of Medicare fraud for penis pumps A new report by federal auditors says a Kansas-based company may have paid out as much as $4.2 million in potentially fraudulent Medicare claims for penis pumps, and the auditors are asking the company to refund the government the money.
Panel unveiling docs on DOE aid recipients; More Solyndras? An Energy Department employee used a private email address to send confidential information to a company that went on to get a $1.4 billion partial loan guarantee from the agency.
How Many Limos Do D.C. Departments Own? In these troubled economic times, it is perhaps not surprising that the federal government is a bit touchy on the question of just how many limousines it owns and operates.
USDA subsidizes advertising for almonds, wine tours in California and organic pet shampoo Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn released a report exposing inefficiency and waste in the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP), which has spent $2.1 billion since 1999 on subsidies for profitable agriculture companies and trade associations that do business overseas.
Waste, fraud in Iraq put all eyes on DoD contracting A commission's final report declared between $30 billion and $60 billion lost to waste and fraud and sounded alarms about, what it called, the inadequate acquisition workforces at the Departments of Defense and State.
Auto Bailout or UAW Bailout? The Treasury Department expects taxpayers to ultimately lose more than $20 billion on the Detroit auto bailout. President Obama defends those losses as necessary to prevent the domestic auto industry from collapsing.
Obama Trip To New York Costs Taxpayers Big Time Some call him "Campaigner-in-chief" with your money.
Obama Energy Dept. awards $2 million grant to solar company linked with Van Jones On Wednesday the Department of Energy began financing solar power installation research with a $2 million award to Solar Mosaic. The solar energy research company has former Obama “green jobs” czar Van Jones listed as an advisor.
Senator Coburn identifies $70 billion in unspent federal funds Republican Senator Tom Coburn has identified more than $70 billion in unspent federal funds that have been left idling in budgetary purgatory.
Senate spent at least $381k since 2011 printing feel-good declarations The U.S. Senate has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on printing costs associated with passing simple resolutions declaring observances such as “National Chess Day,” “National Safe Digging Month” and the “Year of Water.”
CBO: Federal debt to double in 15 years Federal debt will double by the middle of the next decade and reach more than twice the size of the entire U.S. economy by 2037 unless Congress changes course on taxes and spending, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest analysis.
Top GSA official tried to hide report on Vegas bash A top administrator at the General Services Administration who worked on President Obama’s presidential transition team sought to keep secret the agency report that uncovered massive waste at a lavish taxpayer-funded GSA conference in Las Vegas, records show.
VP Biden Spends $1 Million Annually for Weekend Trips Important: The cost of flying Air Force Two is $22,000 an hour, so each half-hour trip to or from Delaware costs about $10,000. Each golf game costs taxpayers $20,000. At that rate, the annual cost to taxpayers of Biden’s weekend trips is well over $1 million.
"This is New York State’s $70 million train to nowhere" Director of state operations calls abandoned trains a glaring example of “waste and incompetence.”
GSA Paid $1 Million in Bonuses to Staff Under Investigation The General Services Administration paid more than $1 million in bonuses to employees while they were being investigated for wrongdoing by the agency’s inspector general, a U.S. lawmaker said.
GSA bonuses, travel expenses raise congressional ire Members of Congress question the big bonuses.
Gov't spends $2.8M on free internet for Tampa residents The program is called AccessALL Tampa. The idea is to help low-income families get access to the Internet. But after one year and $2.8 million in local and federal dollars spent, some say the program isn’t worth it.
Senator Tom Coburn on the “Debt Bomb” That We All Will Face Coburn: “The reason I’m known as ‘Dr. No’ is because I actually believe in the Constitution. I believe in the enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8. I believe the Constitution was filled with nos for us in Washington and yesses for everybody else in America.”
The Real National Debt; What the Government Is Not Telling You The big difference between the official deficit and standard accounting: Congress exempts itself from including the cost of promised retirement benefits.
Feds Propose New Rules to Fight Foodstamp Fraud Food stamp recipients are ripping off the government for millions of dollars by illegally selling their benefit cards for cash — sometimes even in the open, on eBay or Craigslist — and then asking the government for replacement cards.
Is General Motors Becoming China Motors? A viral video claims GM has invested bailout dollars on expansion in China instead of the U.S.
Ninth Circuit court takes million-dollar trip on taxpayer dime. Judges, lawyers and staff from the federal district, appeals and bankruptcy courts in the famously liberal Ninth Circuit are planning a million-dollar trip to the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa August 13-16, at taxpayers’ expense.
Solar Company Admits Using Your Tax Dollars to Create Jobs Overseas The chairman of First Solar, speaking to a House subcommittee on Wednesday, admitted that his taxpayer-backed company has created more jobs overseas than it has within the United States. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/16/first-solars-3-1-billion-in-doe-loan-guarantees-created-mostly-overseas-jobs-video/#ixzz1v3W5HDgg
You Paid for It! Stimulus Dollars Fund Studies into Sexual History and Erectile Dysfunction There are questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone's sexual history.
Taxpayers Fund $454,000 Pay for Collector Chasing Student Loans Joshua Mandelman made $454,000 in a single year as a student-loan debt collector -- more than twice the pay of the U.S. secretary of education.
HHS Sends $5.9 Million to Program Run by Obama Buddy The Department of Health and Human Services last week announced it had awarded a $5.9 million grant to a University of Chicago Medical Center program tied to Michelle Obama and run by Eric Whitaker, one of President Obama’s closest friends.
Will Your Tax Dollars Be Used to Defend 'Obamacare'? House of Representatives approved an amendment that would prohibit the Department of Justice from using its departmental funds to defend 'Obamacare'.
The Largest Tax Hike in History Known as “Taxmageddon,” it would impose $494 billion in higher taxes on the American people in the first year.
Is Government Unfairly Forcing Businesses to Pay for "Timid Tinklers"? It could cost U.S. employers between $2 billion and $4 billion to comply with an obscure Americans with Disabilities Act regulation meant to protect workers who are gun-shy in public restrooms.
Is TSA Wasting Millions of Your Tax Dollars? A new congressional report accuses the Transportation Security Administration of mismanaging its acquisition and management of airport screening equipment by storing millions of dollars in high-tech gear in a Texas warehouse instead of deploying it to airports
It's All Your Money: Taxpayers may be on hook for US Postal Service losses The U.S. Postal Service is often the butt of jokes, but there's nothing funny about the agency's bottom line...and it may cost you.
Taxpayers paid $15k for Jimmy Carter’s postage, according to report Taxpayers spent $15,000 on former President Jimmy Carter’s postage in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday about federal spending on ex-presidents.
AP Exclusive: Waste watchdog got no-bid contract Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff helped steer a no-bid consulting contract worth $360,000 to a friend who now leads a task force rooting out state government waste. Steve MacNamara was still working for the Florida Senate when he recommended Sarasota business consultant Abraham Uccello for the contract to streamline the Legislature's computer systems.
Government Waste By the Numbers: Report Identifies Dozens of Overlapping Programs The federal government hosts 47 job-training programs, 44 of which overlap. It runs 80 programs for the "transportation disadvantaged."

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