Powerful industries field armies of lobbyists – some employing more than one lobbyist per member of Congress – to push for spending and tax preferences that waste our tax dollars. Interest groups exert influence in a variety of ways on the lawmakers best positioned to help their cause. Exposing these connections is a critical step in holding lawmakers accountable and reining in wasteful federal spending.
Explore the Expose Special Interests Program-
Expose Special Interests
MOX Not Populi
Just how far will a member of Congress go to protect his pork? Senator Lindsey Graham put a hold on the confirmation of...

-
Fact Sheet | Expose Special Interests
Coal Industry Profits
For centuries the federal government has been in the business of providing billions in subsidies to coal companies in order to ensure company profits....

-
Policy Brief | Expose Special Interests
House Farm Bill Draft Analysis
Like the Senate bill before it, the House bill inches in the right direction by eliminating direct payments, but dramatically falls backward in other ways...

-
Stop Waste
Bridge to Nowhere
Rep Don Young (R-AK) was awarded the Golden Fleece Award by Taxpayers for Common Sense for trying to sell America's taxpayers a $315 million "bridge to nowhere" in rural Alaska...

The federal budget is rife with taxpayer giveaways to special interests. Telling the story of wasteful federal spending involves exposing the influence that powerful industries cultivate in Washington through campaign contributions and lobbying. ...More
Senate Finance Subcommittee Discusses Energy Tax Reform
August 01, 2013
The Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure met Wednesday, July 31 to discuss the...
Baucus and Hatch Propose Blank Slate Tax Reform
June 27, 2013
Today, Senate Finance Chairman Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Hatch (R-UT) sent a letter to their colleagues proposing “blank slate” tax...
Fiscal Year 2013 Continuing Resolution/Spending bills
March 20, 2013
The current CR and spending bills theoretically mimic the FY13 appropriations bills, but we’ve started looking to see where lawmakers added and subtracted dollars....
Top 10 Fiscal Cliff Tax Fails
January 02, 2013
Washington’s last minute deal to avert the fiscal cliff saw the return of many never-ending “temporary” tax breaks. While the bulk of the...
President Ms. Ryan Alexander Sliding Past Sequestration Statement
October 01, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2012
CONTACTS:
Steve Ellis
202-546-8500 x126
or...
Green Scissors 2012 Finds Environmentally Destructive Federal Programs
June 26, 2012
Left-Right coalition identifies practical steps Congress could take to slash deficits, save natural resources....
Political Contributions & Conflicts of Interest Taint U.S. Ag Policies
May 22, 2013
Despite our nation’s $16.8 trillion debt and record deficits, agricultural lobbyists continue to fearlessly campaign for more subsidies...
Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet
April 02, 2013
The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) was created in the 2008 farm bill to provide federal grants and loans to renewable energy...
Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby
March 20, 2013
The federal government has in one form or another provided lucrative subsidies to the corn ethanol industry for more than 30 years, wasting...
Analysis of Selected Sections of S. 601, Water Resources Development Act of 2013
March 20, 2013
The Senate's Environment and Public Works committee is taking up a water project bill that could cost taxpayers billions....
Op-Ed: Divide and Conquer: Turning Us Against Them
September 16, 2013 | Bucks County Courier Times
The lead story in the Dec. 14, 2009 edition of the Washington Post began: “The Senate cleared for Obama’s signature on Sunday a $447 billion...
Mitch McConnell’s Close Ties with Humana Founder
September 10, 2013 | Politico
In 2005, David A. Jones Sr., founder of health insurance giant Humana Inc., needed help raising money for a Louisville, Ky., parks project...
Congress Needs to Clean House
August 29, 2013 | U.S. News & World Report
This week at Taxpayers for Common Sense we are taking advantage of the slow pace of Washington while Congress is out of town to do a big,...
A Call for Tax Reform Transparency
August 22, 2013 | Capital Insider
For the first time in nearly three decades, Congress is trying a blank slate approach to tax reform. But a big part of the process has been...
Bloomberg: Wal-Mart Connection Means Taxpayers Pay More for Rogers Airport Tower
August 21, 2013 | Arkansas Business
Bloomberg yesterday took a look at the Rogers Municipal Airport, home to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s fleet of corporate jets, and finds the...
