Policy Briefs
Analysis of Selected Provisions in Hurricane Sandy Emergency Spending Proposals
December 17, 2012
Reports & Data
Subsidizing Oil Shale: Tracing Federal Support for Oil Shale Development in the United States
November 29, 2012
Analysis of Selected Provisions in Hurricane Sandy Emergency Spending Proposals
December 17, 2012 > Updated: January 10, 2013 |
Update January 10, 2013:
We’ve combed through the House Appropriations Chairman Rogers Sandy Supplemental bill (HR 152 and his... 
Taxpayer Risks with the Loan Guarantee Program
April 07, 2011 > Updated: August 28, 2012 |
The Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee program carries extremely high taxpayer risk, potentially jeopardizing billions of taxpayer dollars if energy project loans default....
Crop Insurance Administrative Policy Changes
January 30, 2013 |
Several administrative changes could be implemented to reduce taxpayer costs and limit the unintended consequences of federal crop insurance. ...
Transportation Tax Provisions within Fiscal Cliff Deal
January 03, 2013 |
The final agreement signed by the president to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” contains several items related to transportation that...
Energy Tax Breaks Catch Ride on Fiscal Cliff Train
January 03, 2013 |
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At the 11th hour lawmakers and the White House agreed to a deal on the fiscal cliff. While the deal was crafted to address urgent tax...
Oil Shale: Failing Taxpayers for Decades
December 19, 2012 |
Since the early 20th century, the federal government and private industry have attempted to commercialize oil shale but after years of...
Golden Fleece Awarded to Risk Management Agency for Risking Taxpayer Dollars
December 13, 2012 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense awarded the Golden Fleece to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency for wasting taxpayer funds on risk management education for crops ranging from Christmas trees to turf grass....
Fiscal Cliff Fix
December 05, 2012 |
Congress and the President do not need to plunge taxpayers off a “Fiscal Cliff”. Common sense solutions can make government work and put the country on sound footing to deal with our deficits and debt....
Subsidizing Oil Shale: Tracing Federal Support for Oil Shale Development in the United States
November 29, 2012 |
With fiscal cliff looming, TCS calls for end to government handouts for failed oil shale experiments....
Budget Watchdog to Congress: Do Bare Minimum, Then Get Out
November 19, 2012 |
“Punt and go home.” That’s the message that Taxpayers for Common Sense wants to send to lawmakers.
Ryan Alexander, president of the...
Evolution of Earmarks
November 07, 2012 |
Evolution of Earmarks and Earmark Disclosure in Recent Years...
Past Recipients of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Award
November 02, 2012 |
2010: Senator Clare McCaskill (D-MO) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-CA)
2005: Senator John Sununu (R-NH)
2004: Representatives Steve Chabot...
About the “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Award
November 02, 2012 |
Since 1999, Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) has honored lawmakers and citizen activists whose leadership and dedication have made a...
Agency Receives Golden Fleece for Shady Forest Deal in West Virginia
November 02, 2012 |
Washington, DC - Citing the illegal use of taxpayer dollars at the Northeastern Research Station's Fernow Experimental Forest, a national...
Political Power of the Agribusiness and Crop Insurance Lobbies
October 31, 2012 |
The so-called Farm Bill currently being negotiated in Congress is shaping up to be another taxpayer-funded handout to wealthy landowners,...
Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance
October 31, 2012 |
Federally subsidized crop insurance has become the largest taxpayer support for agriculture. But not all parts of the agriculture...
Loan Guarantee Program 101
October 16, 2012 |
A basic primer on the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program and answers general questions on the history, administration, and overall effect of the program....
Coal Subsidy Database
October 15, 2012 |
Over the years the coal industry has received billions in federal subsidies, in a variety of forms including direct grants, loan...
Farm Bill 101
October 02, 2012 |
The Farm Bill is a massive piece of legislation that guides food and farm policy. It covers wide-ranging topics from rural broadband service to farm subsidy payments....
Agricultural Safety Net 101
October 02, 2012 |
The agricultural safety net refers to the various federal programs and policies that insulate agricultural producers from the costs of conducting business....
Green Scissors Campaign 101
October 02, 2012 |
A basic primer on the Green Scissors campaign and answers general questions about the history and goals of the coalition....
Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff
October 01, 2012 |
In the summer of 2011, Congress sent the President a bill that acknowledged failure. Instead of swallowing hard and coming up with...
Not So “Supercritical” Spending
September 28, 2012 |
Coal-fired energy production is one of the oldest and most profitable industries in the world. Yet despite decades of success, the well-established coal industry remains on the federal dole. ...
Congress’ Tortured Math in MAP-21 (Trans. Reauthorization)
September 27, 2012 |
The just-passed MAP-21 (transportation omnibus) is paid for! It reduces the debt over 10 years!
By $16.3 billion,if CBO is to be...
Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees for Liquid Coal: Medicine Bow, Wyoming
September 18, 2012 |
(Originally Posted December 2011, Most Recent Update: September 2012)
In 2008, Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC applied for a $1.7 billion...
Analysis of FY13 Continuing Resolution: Special Carve-outs
September 10, 2012 |
H.J. Res. 117 — Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 was released this morning (9/11/2012). TCS staff will be posting relevant documents and analysis as we digest this proposal over the coming days....
DOE Loan Guarantees: Overview, Risks, and More
September 03, 2012 |
Created in Title 17 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program has received increased scrutiny with the default of a loan guarantee to the solar start-up company, Solyndra....
Record Drought Results in Record Profit
August 30, 2012 |
Special interests are always looking for a silver lining. This year, it’s the farm lobby and sympathetic politicians shamelessly taking...
Golden Fleece Awarded to Riverboat Ripoff
August 30, 2012 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense awarded the Golden Fleece to Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) for introducing H.R. 4342, the WAVE4 Act. This legislation would codify recommendations made by barge operators to increase the federal subsidy for inland waterway construction projects on the nation's rivers....
Big Oil Makes Top Dollar
August 12, 2012 |
The first half of 2012 has brought more multi-billion dollar profits for major oil companies. So far, these companies have raked in more...
Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: $8 Billion Allocated for Fossil Fuel Projects
August 02, 2012 |
While the program was intended for emerging energy technologies, mature industries like coal and nuclear are eligible as well. Congress provided the program with funding in several areas including advanced nuclear reactors, renewable and energy efficiency, front-end nuclear fuel cycle technology, and advanced fossil fuels....
With Agriculture Disaster Aid Congress Pays Now, Hopes to Save Later
August 01, 2012 |
Citing record drought conditions throughout the country, the House is debating today legislation to retroactively extend four...
Coal Industry Profits
July 26, 2012 |
For centuries the federal government has been in the business of providing billions in subsidies to coal companies in order to ensure...
Taxpayers Lose with More Unnecessary Farm Subsidy Layers
July 26, 2012 |
Federal farm programs are ripe for reform, especially those that lock in record high prices and guarantee farmers’ expected income. As...
Turning a Drought into a Fiscal Disaster
July 24, 2012 |
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are trying to take advantage of the drought crisis to foist a trillion-dollar farm bill on...
Zombie Earmarks in Defense Spending Bill
July 15, 2012 |
The Fiscal Year 2013 defense spending bill heading to the House floor Wednesday is a lesson in why it’s so hard to cut defense spending...
House Farm Bill Draft Analysis: Squanders Savings, Recycles Wasteful Ideas, and Creates New Subsidy Entitlement Programs
July 05, 2012 |
Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee released its 2012 Farm Bill draft which eliminates some wasteful commodity programs but...
Senate’s New Way to Lock in Unlimited Farm Subsidies
July 04, 2012 |
On June 21, the Senate passed a few long-awaited reforms to the farm subsidy maze. Unfortunately, at the same time, they also increased...
Congress Relies on Billions from Treasury in Transportation Reauthorization
June 27, 2012 |
A quick note: This analysis is based upon best available data at the time it was written. As of this posting (6:20pm), the final...
Green Scissors 2012
June 26, 2012 |
Left-Right coalition identifies practical steps Congress could take to slash deficits, save natural resources....
MOX Misses the Mark
June 19, 2012 |
Despite the ever-increasing price tag, incessant delays in progress, and known safety risks, the Department of Energy continues to pour federal subsidies into the Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) program year after year. ...
Federal-Free Risk Management in Agriculture
June 18, 2012 |
Like all businesses, agricultural producers face a number of risks in maintaining a profitable enterprise. Successful management of these...
Senate Finance Committee Meets to Talk Energy Tax Reform
June 17, 2012 |
The Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing last week on tax reform and its impacts on energy policy. Among the four witnesses from...
Senate Ag Committee: More is Less
June 17, 2012 |
(Originally published June 8, 2012)
With debate on the 2012 Farm Bill underway on the Senate Floor, proponents of this nearly trillion...
Why Transportation Reauthorization Negotiations Are Failing: The Pay-fors Just Don’t Add Up
June 14, 2012 |
Congress continues to meet behind closed doors in a Conference Committee to hash out the details of a transportation bill...
Dept. of Energy Offers USEC $280 Million Handout
June 13, 2012 |
In yet another attempt to revive the struggling United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), the Department of Energy (DOE) has offered...
Taylorville Energy Center Pulls Plug on its Coal Project
May 22, 2012 |
It appears that one of the top contenders for a loan guarantee under the Department of Energy program has decided to abandon original...
Department of Energy Loan Guarantees: Uranium Enrichment
May 15, 2012 |
The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program was created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide Treasury backed loan...
Spending Even Less, Spending Even Smarter
May 07, 2012 |
Watchdog Groups Identify Nearly $700 Billion in Wasteful Spending on National Security...
Farm Safety Net Proposals that Fail to Save
April 22, 2012 |
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a report that will help you study up for this Wednesday’s Senate Farm Bill mark-up...
Government Report Reinforces Need to Harvest Savings in Crop Insurance
April 11, 2012 |
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a report detailing the potential to save more than a billion dollars a year...
California HSR Project Cuts Costs but Federal Taxpayer Still on the Hook
April 05, 2012 |
In response to growing public opposition, questionable project merit, and an increasingly bloated cost, the California High Speed Rail...
House to seek another extension for transportation program
March 22, 2012 |
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Mica (R-FL) introduced H.R. 4239 yesterday; a “clean” extension to the...
House Committee Discusses Nuclear Safety and Spending
March 09, 2012 |
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development met Wednesday to discuss the FY2013 Office of Nuclear Energy budget...
Big Oil Tops $150 Billion in Profits in 2011
March 01, 2012 |
With annual financial reports being released this time of year, the oil and gas industry is looking to continue its decade long trend of...
TCSAction Letter to Congress: Budget Gimmicks Hit the Road
February 13, 2012 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action sent a letter to members of Congress as they consider H.R. 7, The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs...
Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Data
February 12, 2012 |
The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) is a compendium of more than two thousand tariff waivers which reduce the fees importers pay for a...
Sandy Supplemental Data
February 12, 2012 |
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As Washington debates the merits of a supplemental spending bill in response to superstorm Sandy, this database lists of all the spending...
Defense Assets Data
February 12, 2012 |
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is the largest federal agency in the United States, consuming more than half of discretionary...
Crop Insurance: A Federal Cash Assurance Program
February 09, 2012 |
Federal crop insurance is a highly taxpayer subsidized program that allows agricultural producers to shift their business risk onto...
Backdoor Earmarks? Slush-y Funds in the Corps of Engineers Budget
February 08, 2012 |
(February 8, 2012 | 3:00 p.m.)
Below is a chart detailing the number of projects that receive funding in the Corps 2012 Work Plan that...
Oil Profits Stay High; Needless Subsidies Continue
February 02, 2012 |
It appears the oil and gas industry is looking to continue its decade long trend of record profits. As of February 2nd, Chevron, Exxon...
FY13 Defense Budget Scorecard
January 27, 2012 |
The Defense Department today gave the public a peek behind the cover of its Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, releasing a report and fact...
The Nation’s Transportation Trust Funds
January 19, 2012 |
The nation’s transportation system — highways, transit lines, aviation, waterways, and ports — is largely supported by a series of...
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Too Costly for Taxpayers
January 18, 2012 |
Carbon capture and storage (CCS), also referred to as carbon capture and sequestration, is the process of separating carbon dioxide (CO2)...
The Department of Energy FutureGen Initiative
December 19, 2011 |
The latest iteration of the Department of Energy’s FutureGen project (find a timeline here) is a federal initiative to finance and...
TIGER III Grant Awardees Named
December 15, 2011 |
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) today awarded $511 million worth of grants to support 46 projects in 33 states and...
DOE Renewable and Energy Efficiency Loan Guarantees
December 05, 2011 |
The Department of Energy loan guarantee program that backed Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer which went bankrupt on August 31, 2011...
Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees for Liquid Coal: Medicine Bow, Wyoming
December 01, 2011 |
The Medicine Bow plant has been repeatedly delayed over eight years. Putting the full faith and credit of the U.S. government behind this costly and risky project is fiscally reckless. ...
FutureGen Project Timeline
November 30, 2011 |
FutureGen Project Timeline
• February 2003: Bush Administration announces initiative to develop zero-emissions “clean coal” power plant....
Analyzing Transportation Provisions in Mini-Bus Appropriations Bill
November 15, 2011 |
House and Senate negotiators have released a final version of the so-called "mini-bus" appropriations bill that will roll three funding...
Cashing In: Biofuels Industry Buys Congress’s Continued Support
November 09, 2011 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense today released a report detailing the heavily subsidized biofuels industry's political clout.
The biofuels...
Big Oil, Big Profits
October 30, 2011 |
Another quarter, another unsurprising set of reports of huge profits for the oil companies. Continuing to be some of the most profitable...
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Loan Program: Program Expansion Must Not Erode Taxpayer Protections
October 26, 2011 |
The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) was adopted by Congress in 1998 to leverage federal resources and...
Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program: Uranium Enrichment
October 23, 2011 |
The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program was created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide Treasury backed loan...
Action Alert: Senate Set to Vote on Ethanol Amendment
October 17, 2011 |
It is time to end the wasteful tradition of subsidizing the corn ethanol industry. Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a diverse coalition of...
TCS Comments on OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale
October 17, 2011 |
Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense submitted comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease...
Bridging the Gap: Redirecting Investments to Fix the Nation’s Bridges
October 13, 2011 |
A large portion of the nation’s 600,000 bridges are in poor condition and require investment to repair or replace. Congress, by virtue of...
Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program: Update on Loan Guarantee Applicants
October 04, 2011 |
Passed as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program has $34 billion in...
Department of Energy: Loan Guarantee Program Overview
September 19, 2011 |
Created in Title 17 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program has received increased scrutiny with the default of a loan guarantee to the solar start-up company, Solyndra....
Common Sense Cuts
September 15, 2011 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense has been working hard to meet the challenge of that the so-called Super Committee is facing - $1.2-1.5...
Super Cuts for the Super Committee
September 15, 2011 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense has been working hard to meet the challenge of that the so-called Super Committee is facing - $.12-1.5...
Report Highlights Significant Savings in Essential Air Service Program
September 12, 2011 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense is pleased to join National Resources Defense Council, Reason Foundation, and the American Bus Assocation in a...
After 9/11: A Decade of Watching War on Terror Spending
September 08, 2011 |
This week marks the ten-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Our national security...
Comparing Proposals for a National Infrastructure Bank
September 07, 2011 |
With extension of the nation's surface transportation program currently being debated in the halls of Congress, policymakers are...
Transportation: Gridlock may lead to Crashes Ahead
August 31, 2011 |
The daunting challenges Congress faces in the next month regarding the nation's transportation programs when it returns next week:
1....
Taxpayer Guide to Pentagon Contracting
August 23, 2011 |
Tracking contracts in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is daunting. DOD purchases more than $1 billion of goods and services every...
Green Scissors 2011
August 23, 2011 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense joined environmental, consumer watchdog, and free-market groups today to release Green Scissors 2011, which...
Myth v. Fact: Oil and Gas Companies’ Effective Tax Rate
August 12, 2011 |
Oil and gas companies have complained that they pay an effective tax rate of 41%....
Essentially Wasteful: The Essential Air Service
August 03, 2011 |
Congress has split town leaving an important deal unfinished. Yes, the debt ceiling got raised, but there’s another important piece of...
Another Report Points to Taxpayers Losing Billions On Risky DOE Loan Guarantees
August 02, 2011 |
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report on federal loan guarantees for nuclear power plants, which seriously...
Big Oil, Big Corn: An in-depth look at the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit
August 01, 2011 |
Big Oil, Big Corn: An in-depth look at the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit
Corn has been subsidized since the 1930s, but it was...
Debt and Debt Ceiling Q&A
July 21, 2011 |
If the President and Congress cannot reach agreement by August 2nd to raise the debt ceiling and pay our national obligations, the...
Spending Less, Spending Smarter: Recommendations for National Security Savings FY 2012 to FY 2021
July 20, 2011 |
Watchdog Groups Identify Nearly $600 Billion in National Security Spending Cuts
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The federal government could save...
House Should Support Stronger Reforms to the Wasteful Essential Air Service
July 20, 2011 |
Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging strong reforms of the wasteful and outdated...
No Deal on Ethanol for Taxpayers
July 19, 2011 |
A small group Senators are attempting to snatch fiscal defeat from the jaws of taxpayer victory on ethanol subsidies. Last month the...
Senate Transportation Reauthorization Summary Released
July 18, 2011 |
On the heels of the House's recent proposal, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today released a summary of its own...
House Transportation Reauthorization Proposal Released
July 06, 2011 |
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Rep. John Mica (R-FL) today released an outline of its proposal for a...
$14 Trillion U.S. Debt Leaves No Room for Treasury-Backed Loan Guarantees for Energy Projects
May 31, 2011 |
WASHINGTON, D.C.///June 1, 2011///With Congress poised to move forward on more taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for nuclear, wind, solar,...
Repair Priorities: Transportation Spending Strategies to Save Taxpayer Dollars and Improve Roads
May 31, 2011 |
June 1, 2011
Taxpayers for Common Sense and Smart Growth America released a report highlighting smarter investments in road repair and...
Subsidy Gusher
May 16, 2011 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) released “Subsidy Gusher: Taxpayers Stuck with Massive Subsidies while Oil and...
The Most For Our Money—Highlighting Solutions for the Nation’s Transportation Problems
May 15, 2011 |
Transportation dollars are tight. The gasoline tax that we rely on to build and maintain our transportation networks isn’t enough to meet...
The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit: History and Current Policy
April 29, 2011 |
The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) is the largest subsidy to corn ethanol, the most common biofuel in the U.S. The tax...
Draft of Administration’s Transportation Reauthorization Revealed
April 29, 2011 |
A draft has started floating around of the Obama Administration's reauthorization proposal for the nation's transportation program....
The President’s FY2012 Proposed Cuts to Fossil Fuel Subsidies
April 14, 2011 |
In keeping with President Obama’s call to end fossil fuel subsidies, the latest budget proposal includes several significant cuts to oil,...
Reports highlight problems with transportation spending
April 12, 2011 |
Billions of taxpayer dollars handed out by the Department of Transportation was distributed on the basis of a flawed selection process,...
HR 1363 FY11 Defense/CR Only Cuts $4.4B
April 06, 2011 |
Not that it’s anything to sneeze at, but HR1363 the “Department of Defense and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011” that the...
Framing the Transportation Debate: Two Recent Documents Highlight Key Issues
March 28, 2011 |
Two documents released recently do a great job framing the upcoming debate over reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation...
Ongoing TCS Analysis of the FY2012 Budget Proposal
March 10, 2011 |
The FY2012 Presidential Budget Request was released this morning. TCS staff will be posting relevant documents and analysis as we digest...
Common Sense Cuts—$900 billion in savings over 10 years
February 12, 2011 |
The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...
TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Tax Expenditures
February 10, 2011 |
Tax Expenditures
Total Cuts: $624 billion
Cuts Include:
Mortgage Interest Deduction
Cut: $390 billion
LIFO
Cut: $52.9...
TCS Recommended Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Transportation
February 10, 2011 |
Transportation
Total Cuts: $18.7 billion
The nation’s transportation system is broken, as the gasoline tax that each of us pays at the...
TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Energy
February 10, 2011 |
Energy
Total Cuts: $42 billion
Taxpayers have been subsidizing the same mature, polluting energy technologies for decades. Many...
TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: National Security
February 10, 2011 |
NATIONAL SECURITY
Total Cuts: $95 billion
Total Achieved Savings: $7 billion
For too long, the defense budget was considered...
TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Agriculture
February 10, 2011 |
AGRICULTURE
Total Cut: $110 billion
Outdated and ineffective farm policies waste billions of federal funds each year, jeopardize...
TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Infrastructure
February 10, 2011 |
Infrastructure
Total Cuts: $6 billion
For nearly two centuries, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has been a way for lawmakers to...
TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: General
February 10, 2011 |
General
Total Cuts: $421+ million
Cuts Include:
Shift Congressional Pensions to Defined Contribution
Overseas Private Investment...
TCS Recommended Budget Cut List No. 2: Total Cuts $205+ billion
February 10, 2011 |
The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...
TCS reaction to Sen. Manchin (D-WV) Statement on Coal Subsidies
February 03, 2011 |
We all know that lawmakers are allowed the occasional stretching of the truth, but at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources...
TCS Review of CBO Brief: Spending and Funding for Highways
January 21, 2011 |
As the 112th Congress begins to tackle runaway deficits, government spending cuts, and congressional earmark bans, they will undoubtedly...
TCS Recommended Budget Cuts for the 112th Congress
January 11, 2011 |
The time has come for Congress to begin a serious discussion about how it is going to correct the current budgetary path into deeper and...
Fair Market Value for Wind and Solar Development on Public Land
January 06, 2011 |
A review and analysis of the laws and regulations governing the collection and use of revenues from commercial energy development on federal lands and is a guide for policy-makers to use in developing appropriate policies for wind and solar energy projects....
FY2011 Omnibus Appropriations Earmark Database
December 29, 2010 |
(Originally Posted 12/17/2010)
Taxpayers for Common Sense has completed an initial database of the 6,706 earmarks worth $8.3 billion...
TCS Releases Database of FY11 Earmark Requests
December 02, 2010 |
(Originally Posted December 7)
Taxpayers for Common Sense, WashingtonWatch.com, and Taxpayers Against Earmarks teamed together to...
TCS and the Grocery Manufacturers Association Hold a Briefing on the Impacts and Future of the Corn
November 17, 2010 |
Also in attendance is Iowa State University economist Bruce Babcock.
Click hereClick herePolicy Briefs:
"Let the VEETC Expire:...
Fiscal Commission Defense Cuts: Strong Start, More Can be Done
November 12, 2010 |
The draft recommendations released this week by the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform propose...
TCS Preliminary Earmark Analysis for FY 2011
November 05, 2010 |
Originally Posted 10/19/2010:
The FY2011 budget is a mess. Congress has not finished a single spending bill. The House has approved...
Election Gives Big-Spending Congressional Committees New Look
November 04, 2010 |
The Armed Services Committees are not the only Congressional bodies to see their memberships upended by the midterm elections.
The...
Third Quarter Results are in and still the same story: Billions in profit, billions more in subsidie
November 03, 2010 |
Total SA made $3.2 in the third quarter; Shell: $3.5; Chevron: $3.8; Exxon: $7.4; and most telling of all, BP has emerged back into the...
Common Sense Reforms for the 112th Congress
October 28, 2010 |
As the dawn of the 112th Congress draws near, there are several reforms Congress should enact, regardless of which party is in control....
Solar Development Train Leaving the Station, Without Congress
October 20, 2010 |
Congress’ failure to make any progress on energy policy this session is costing taxpayers....
Ethanol Editorials: Newspapers Across the County Agree - End Ethanol Subsidies!
October 12, 2010 |
Newspapers Across the Country Agree: End Ethanol Subsidies!
In light of TCS’ release of the Green Scissors 2010 Report on July 22 and...
DOD Still Years Away From Managing its Money
September 29, 2010 |
Despite efforts to save billions by improving the way it does business, the Defense Department is not only still years away from being...
Good Government Groups and Lobbyists Jointly Release Common Sense Earmark Reforms for the 112th Congress
September 27, 2010 |
TCS joined with other nonprofit good government groups and several Washington lobbyists to hammer out some jointly agreed upon earmark...
UPDATE—$7.7 Billion In Earmarks In 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill (updated 3/13/09)
September 14, 2010 |
March 13, 2009 Update: Version 5 is now available. This version includes member state and party, and also allows for a partisan...
Green Scissors 2010
August 23, 2010 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a number of environmental and consumer groups and a bipartisan slate of Representatives today in...
FutureGen: Massive Clean Coal Project Changes Track, Still Securing $1 Billion Earmarked in the Stimulus
August 06, 2010 |
Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the plan to build “FutureGen” a massive commercial “clean coal” facility in Mattoon,...
Senate Appropriations Committee Passes Energy and Water Bill—Includes $17 billion in Risky Loan Guarantee
July 23, 2010 |
On July 22, the Senate Committee on Appropriations passed the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill. The $34.97 billion bill...
Taxpayer Victory—Senate Strips Energy Loan Guarantees from Emergency Spending Bill
July 22, 2010 |
Late yesterday the Senate rejected the House passed Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which included $18 billion in new loan...
New Report Finds DOE Loan Guarantee Program Riddled with Problems
July 11, 2010 |
The Government Accountability Office released a new report today, finding that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program...
Another Loan Guarantee Putting Taxpayer Dollars at Risk
July 08, 2010 |
On Wednesday, AREVA, a French nuclear power conglomerate, accepted a Department of Energy conditional loan guarantee of $2 billion for...
DOD Tries to Shave Billions From Contracting Costs
June 29, 2010 |
The scent of defense acquisition reform is heavy in the air again. Just don’t call it acquisition reform.
The Defense Department...
Federal Loan Guarantees for Nuclear Reactors: Details of the Current Applicants
June 21, 2010 |
On February 16, 2010, the Department of Energy offered the first conditional nuclear loan guarantee of $8.3 billion to Southern Company...
Fool Me Once–Energy Legislation Should Include Royalty System for Wind and Solar Projects on Taxpayer Lands
June 20, 2010 |
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has refocused Congress’ attention on energy and climate legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...
Oil and Gas Industry: A Decade of Record Breaking Profits
June 14, 2010 |
Big Oil has made Big Money over the last decade. In fact, the last five years proved to be some of the most profitable for any U.S....
UPDATE: Earmarks in Defense Authorization Bill
June 06, 2010 |
(June 4, 2010) This week’s Memorial Day Congressional recess gave us a chance to peer under the lid of the House defense authorization...
Exploring the Relationship Between Earmarks and Campaign Contributions
June 02, 2010 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive Politics have joined to release a comprehensive database that links campaign...
Senate Climate Bill Loads up Taxpayer Giveaways
May 11, 2010 |
Today Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will release their long awaited climate legislation, the American Power Act....
Department of Defense: Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness Plan Status Report
May 06, 2010 |
Read the text of the Department of Defense's Status Report on the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Plan
Download the PDF...
Mining Companies Enchanted by New Mexico Giveaways
May 03, 2010 |
New Mexico is one of the most heavily mined states in the country, producing large amounts of perlite, copper, and other hardrock...
Energy Department Wants $9 Billion More in Taxpayer-Backed Nuclear Loan Guarantees
April 28, 2010 |
Yesterday at a Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Energy Secretary Chu said an additional $9 BILLION in...
Recipients of 2010 “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Award
April 09, 2010 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense honor Senator Clare McCaskill (D-MO) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-CA) with the "Mr. Smith" Award in recognition of their efforts to promote fiscal responsibility and eliminate wasteful governmental spending....
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Discusses Funding for Different Energy Sectors
April 07, 2010 |
On March 17th, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development donned green ties for St. Patrick’s Day and met to...
Details on the President’s Proposed Fossil Fuel Cuts
March 30, 2010 |
In keeping with President Obama’s call to end fossil fuel subsidies, the latest budget proposal includes several significant cuts to oil,...
Secretary Salazar Reiterates ‘Taxpayers Must Receive Fair Return’ for Our Natural Resources
March 23, 2010 |
Analysis of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Full Committee Hearing March 3, 2010
In early March, the Senate Energy Natural...
Arizona Public Lands in Mining Company Hands
March 18, 2010 |
Arizona is one of the most heavily mined states in the country, producing large amounts of copper, silver and other hardrock minerals....
The Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program: History and Taxpayer Risk
March 11, 2010 |
Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program to provide loan guarantees for...
Earmarks and Earmarking: Frequently Asked Questions
March 10, 2010 |
Earmarks have received a lot of attention in the media, in Congress, and around the water cooler. But despite the interest there is a good deal of disagreement about the definition of earmark, the role of earmarking in the budget process, whether it is an appropriate use of Congress's time, and whether earmarks serve the interests of taxpayers....
The Flap Over the Jobs Bill: Flawed Politics of the Past Would Continue to Distribute Funds in the F
March 01, 2010 |
Earlier this week, the Senate passed its version of the jobs bill—a bill which is flawed from a transportation and taxpayer...
Senate Jobs Bill: The Wrong Direction on Transportation
February 24, 2010 |
Updated 2:33pm
The Senate-passed jobs bill (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act or the Jobs for Main Street Act) contains a...
Senate Energy Panel Discusses Presidentﾒs Proposed Budget Cuts, Increases
February 22, 2010 |
On February 4th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee held a hearing on the President’s FY2011 Department of Energy...
TCS FY2010 Earmark Analysis: Apples-to-Apples Increase in Earmarks
February 18, 2010 |
Click Here for the complete database of FY2010 Earmarks | Click Here for a pdf version of this analysis...
Top Nuclear Loan Guarantee Contenders in Financial Shambles
February 15, 2010 |
***Originally Posted January 29, 2010***
The Department of Energy announced in December 2009 that they would soon issue Treasury-backed...
North Shore Road: Final Agreement a Win for Taxpayers
February 10, 2010 |
An agreement was signed this week that settles a long-standing dispute about what to do with the North Shore Road in the Great Smoky...
FY11 Budget Cuts Agriculture Waste
February 02, 2010 |
The President’s proposed FY2011 Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget is $25.8 billion, slightly reduced from the FY2010 level of $26.9...
FY2011 Budget Request: Department of Energy Request
February 01, 2010 |
The Presidents fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) budget request includes a $28.4 billion discretionary budget for the Department of Energy (DOE)....
FY2011 Budget Request: President Terminates Yucca Mountain, Increases Funding for Other Nuclear Projects
February 01, 2010 |
The President’s budget ends funding for the Yucca Mountain project, which was intended to be a permanent nuclear waste disposal site....
FY2011 Budget Request: Administration Triples Risky Loan Guarantees for Nuclear Reactors
February 01, 2010 |
The President’s FY2011 budget proposal triples funding to the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program. This includes $36 billion in...
FY2011 Budget Request: President Expands Cuts to Fossil Fuel Subsidies
February 01, 2010 |
Similar to last year’s budget request, the Fiscal year 2011 budget request eliminates several longstanding oil and gas subsidies. TCS is...
2010 Defense Budget Winners and Losers
January 29, 2010 |
The day last April when Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed the Defense Department’s 2010 budget has become known as “Black Monday.”...
Obama to Contractors: Don’t Cheat Uncle Sam
January 22, 2010 |
It was payback time for President Obama this week when he threw down the gauntlet to tax-dodging contractors.Taxpayers pay contractors...
UPDATE: 1,720 Earmarks in Final Defense Spending Bill
December 17, 2009 |
(December 17) The Senate will soon follow the House in passing a $636.3 billion Fiscal Year 2010 defense appropriations bill, the...
Bailout Bank Bio: Eagle Bancorp, Inc.
December 11, 2009 |
Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (Eagle Bancorp) is a bank holding company that provides general commercial and consumer banking services through its...
Bailout Bank Bio: GMAC
December 11, 2009 |
Founded in 1919 as the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, GMAC is an important company in both the auto and home finance...
MilCon, VA and State Department Funding in Omnibus
December 11, 2009 |
The House of Representatives drove home a $447 billion omnibus spending bill yesterday loaded with six of the seven appropriations bills...
FY10 Omnibus Disclosed Earmark Numbers
December 10, 2009 |
Preliminary disclosed earmark totals for the FY10 Omnibus:
Transportation/HUD:
1481
worth $1.207...
Congressional Budget Office Analysis Confirms Senate CEDA Jeopardizes Billions of Taxpayer Dollars
December 10, 2009 |
The American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (ACELA), S. 1462, as approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in...
Senate Version of The Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA)
December 10, 2009 |
Both the House and Senate have proposed the creation of the new federal financing entity known as the Clean Energy Deployment...
Coal to Liquids: A Costly Gamble
December 07, 2009 |
Discovered by German scientists during World War II, the Fischer-Tropsch process – referred to by the Department of Energy as...
Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program
December 07, 2009 |
What are federal loan guarantees?
Federal loan guarantees allow borrowers to receive a loan from an independent or federal lender with the...
The Percentage Depletion Allowance (PDA): A Double Giveaway for Hardrock Mining Companies
December 04, 2009 |
For decades, hardrock mining companies have benefited from generous tax breaks at the expense of taxpayers, all the while extracting...
The Amazing Waste: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Funding
November 06, 2009 |
Despite being expensive, inefficient, and ineffective, hydrogen fuel cell technologies have received more than $1.4 billion in federal...
Oil and Gas Royalties: Relief for Oil and Gas Companies, a Fiscal Headache for Taxpayers
November 03, 2009 |
Oil and gas companies that drill offshore or on public lands are required to pay for the oil and gas they remove in the form of royalties. However, because of out-dated energy policy and mismanagement of royalty collection, oil and gas companies often pay little to no royalties to the owners of the resources—U.S. taxpayers. At a time when oil companies have experienced five years of record profits, there is no need to subsidize the industry with royalty holidays. With prices at more than $80/barrel, and predicted to increase, the industry has ample incentive to produce more oil without taxpayer subsidies. ...
UPDATE: President Signs Defense Authorization Bill with $4 billion in Earmarks
October 29, 2009 |
(October 30) President Obama signed a $680 billion defense authorization bill this week—the largest such bill ever—with a declaration...
Contractor Accountability Legislation in Defense Authorization
October 21, 2009 |
One of the most interesting—and neglected—sections of the annual defense authorization bill steers annual contracting policy both for DOD...
UPDATE: Congress Passes Final $42.8 DHS Approps Bill
October 21, 2009 |
(October 21) Congress handed off a $42.8 billion appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2010...
Support Sound Science for Salmon
October 14, 2009 |
We commend Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-WA), Tom Petri (R-WI), and the current cosponsors of H.R. 3503, the Salmon Solutions and Planning...
Department of Energy Loan Program
October 07, 2009 |
What are federal loan guarantees?
Federal loan guarantees allow borrowers to receive a loan from an independent or federal lender with...
UPDATE: The President’s 2010 Budget: Reining in Oil and Gas Subsidies
September 24, 2009 |
The president’s fiscal year 2010 budget repeals several long-standing oil and gas subsidies, saving an estimated $31.7 billion over the next ten years.i In addition, general tax and subsidy reforms will save $108.5 billion, largely from subsidies that benefit the oil and gas industries. For nearly a century, taxpayers have provided billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industry, this proposal takes the first step toward reining in decades of giveaways....
More than 161,000 Abandoned Mines in the West
August 12, 2009 |
A recent GAO report found that there are at least 161,000 abandoned mines in western states. The research, conducted in the states of...
Royalties from Hardrock Mining on State Lands as High as 12%
August 12, 2009 |
In a recent analysis on hardrock mining, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that among twelve western states, all assess...
FY08 & FY09 Earmarks and Related Campaign Contributions
August 12, 2009 |
**Update: September 16 -- For Fiscal Year 2010 Earmark Databases, click here**
Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive...
Bailout Bank Bio: Southwest Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Southwest Bancorp, Inc., a financial holding company, provides commercial and consumer banking services in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas....
The Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
The Bancorp, Inc. is a financial holding company with a wholly owned subsidiary, The Bancorp Bank. The Bancorp Bank is headquartered in...
The Connecticut Bank and Trust Company
August 06, 2009 |
The Connecticut Bank and Trust Company is a Connecticut state bank and trust company, founded in 2004. The bank operates its headquarters...
Bailout Bank Bio: LCNB Corp.
August 06, 2009 |
LCNB Corp. operates as the holding company for Lebanon Citizens National Bank that provides commercial and personal banking services in...
Bailout Bank Bio: State Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
State Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for State Bank of Long Island that provides general banking products and services,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Southern Community Financial Corporation
August 06, 2009 |
Southern Community Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Southern Community Bank and Trust, which provides commercial...
Bailout Bank Bio: State Street Corp
August 06, 2009 |
State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of products and services for the institutional investors worldwide. It...
Bailout Bank Bio: Somerset Hills Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Somerset Hills Bancorp operates as the holding company for Somerset Hills Bank, which provides commercial banking services primarily in...
Bailout Bank Bio: Sterling Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Sterling Bancorp operates as the holding company for Sterling National Bank that provides banking and financial products and services to...
Bailout Bank Bio: Summit State Bank
August 06, 2009 |
Summit State Bank provides various commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in its primary service area of Santa Rosa,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Sun Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Sun Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Sun National Bank that provides a range of commercial and retail banking...
Bailout Bank Bio: Superior Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Superior Bancorp operates as a holding company for Superior Bank that offers banking and related services. It offers a range of retail and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Shore Bancshares
August 06, 2009 |
Shore Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Centreville National Bank of Maryland; The Talbot Bank of Easton, Maryland;...
Bailout Bank Bio: Security Federal Corporation
August 06, 2009 |
Security Federal Corporation operates as the holding company for Security Federal Bank, which provides various banking products and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Tennessee Valley Financial Holdings
August 06, 2009 |
Tennessee Valley Financial Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for TNBank, a private bank based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The bank five...
Bailout Bank Bio: Texas Capital Bancshares
August 06, 2009 |
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Texas Capital Bank, National Association that provides various banking...
Bailout Bank Bio: Security California Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Security Bank of California offers a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses primarily in California. Its...
Bailout Bank Bio: Texas National Bank
August 06, 2009 |
Texas National Bank was chartered in 1985 and is locally owned and operated.
On January 9, 2009, the bank received $3,981,000 in exchange...
Bailout Bank Bio: Santa Lucia Bancorp
August 06, 2009 |
Santa Lucia Bancorp is the holding company for Santa Lucia Bank, which is headquartered in Atascadero, California and operates branch...
Bailout Bank Bio: The Private Bank of California
August 06, 2009 |
The Private Bank of California offers financial services for high net worth individuals; business owners; legal and financial...
Bailout Bank Bio: The Victory Bank
August 06, 2009 |
On February 27, 2009, the Victory Bank received $541,000 in preferred stock with exercised warrants through the Capital Purchase Program....
Bailout Bank Bio: Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania
August 06, 2009 |
Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Royal Bancshares) is a bank holding company for Royal Bank America and Royal Asian Bank, which...
Bailout Bank Bio: The Freeport State Bank
August 06, 2009 |
The Freeport State Bank received $301,000 from the Capital Purchase Program in exchange for preferred stock with warrants on February 6,...
Bailout Bank Bio: HF Financial Corp
August 05, 2009 |
HF Financial Corp operates as the holding company for Home Federal Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking services in the...
Bank Bailout Bio: First ULB Bancshares (United Labor Bank)
August 05, 2009 |
First ULB received $4.9 million in preferred stock with exercised warrants on January 23, 2009 under the Capital Purchase Program. The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina
August 05, 2009 |
Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. is the holding company for Peoples Bank. The company is headquartered in Newton, North Carolina,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Parkvale Financial
August 05, 2009 |
Parkvale Financial Corporation operates as a holding company for Parkvale Savings Bank that provides various consumer and commercial...
Bailout Bank Bio: Peoples Bancorp (OH)
August 05, 2009 |
Peoples Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank, National Association, which provides various financial services and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Pacific Coast National Bancorp
August 05, 2009 |
Pacific Coast National Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Pacific Coast National Bank that provides a range of commercial and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Tidelands Bancshares, Inc.
August 05, 2009 |
Tidelands Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Tidelands Bank. Its primary market...
Bailout Bank Bio: Pulaski Financial Corp
August 05, 2009 |
Pulaski Financial Corp. is a holding company for Pulaski Bank, which serves the greater St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri areas. In...
Bailout Bank Bio: OceanFirst Financial
August 05, 2009 |
OceanFirst Financial Corp.,Inc. is a holding company for OceanFirst Bank, based in Toms River, New Jersey. The company operates 20 branch...
Bailout Bank Bio: The Tifton Banking Company
August 05, 2009 |
The Tifton Banking Company is a locally owned and operated bank started in 2004. On April 17, 2009, Tifton Banking Company received...
Bailout Bank Bio: Pinnacle Financial Partners
August 05, 2009 |
Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. operates as the holding company for Pinnacle National Bank, which provides commercial banking services to...
Bailout Bank Bios: Integra Bank Corporation
August 05, 2009 |
Integra Bank Corporation operates as a holding company for Integra Bank N.A. that provides personal and commercial banking, investment and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Titonka Bancshares
August 05, 2009 |
On April 3, 2009, Titonka Bancshares received $2,117,000 in exchange for preferred stock with exercised warrants under the Capital Purchase...
Bailout Bank Bio: Todd Bancshares
August 05, 2009 |
On February 6, 2009, Todd Bancshares received $4,000,000 in exchange for preferred stock with exercised warrants....
Bailout Bank Bio: Triad Bancorp
August 05, 2009 |
Triad Bancorp has one location in Frontenac, Missouri. On March 27, 2009, Triad Bancorp accepted $3,700,000 in exchange for preferred stock...
Bailout Bank Bio: The Little Bank, Inc.
August 04, 2009 |
The Little Bank, Inc. serves the Lenoir, Wayne, Onslow, and Pitt county markets. It operates through its main office in Kinston, as well...
Bailout Bank Bio: Trinity Capital Corporation
August 04, 2009 |
Trinity Capital Corporation is the sole shareholder of Los Alamos National Bank. On March 27, 2009, Trinity Capital Corporation received...
Bailout Bank Bio: Tri-State Bank of Memphis
August 04, 2009 |
On April 3, 2009, Tri-State Bank of Memphis received $2,795,000 from the U.S. Treasury in exchange for preferred stock under the Capital...
Bailout Bank Bio: TriState Capital Holdings
August 04, 2009 |
On February 27, 2009, TriState Capital Holdings received $23,000,000 in exchange for preferred stock with exercised warrants under the...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of Kentucky
August 04, 2009 |
The Bank of Kentucky Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for The Bank of Kentucky, Inc., which provides various...
Nuclear Power Subsidies
August 04, 2009 |
Since the nation began using nuclear energy, the federal government has provided billions in subsidies to the industry. More than $85...
Taxpayers at Risk: Expansion of Nuclear Loan Guarantees Could Cost Billions
August 04, 2009 |
This fall, Congress is poised to consider an energy financing entity that would allow for the distribution of extensive loan guarantees and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Tri-County Financial Corp
August 04, 2009 |
Tri-County Financial Corporation operates as the holding company of Community Bank of Tri-County. The company was founded in 1950 and is...
Bailout Bank Bio: TriStone Community Bank
August 04, 2009 |
TriStone Community Bank offers general commercial and retail banking services in Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. The bank was...
Bailout Bank Bio: United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc.
August 04, 2009 |
United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. operates as the holding company for United Bank that offers commercial banking services to business...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Bank of Manitowoc
August 04, 2009 |
First Manitowoc Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for First National Bank (bank) in Manitowoc, which engages in commercial and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Uwharrie Capital Corp
August 04, 2009 |
Uwharrie Capital Corp operates as the holding company for Anson Bank & Trust, Bank of Stanly, and Cabarrus Bank & Trust. The company,...
Lastest List of House Members Supporting Mining Reform
August 03, 2009 |
Early this year, Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced H.R. 699, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009. H.R. 699 would...
Bailout Bank Bio: SCBT Financial
August 03, 2009 |
SCBT Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides retail and commercial banking services, mortgage lending services, trust and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of Currituck
July 30, 2009 |
The Bank of Currituck is an independent community bank serving northeastern North Carolina and parts of southeastern Virginia. The main...
Hearing: Recovery Act: 160-Day Progress Report for Transporation and Infrastructure Programs
July 30, 2009 |
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing today entitled: “Recovery Act: 160-Day Progress Report for...
TCS Letter to Congress on Salmon Solutions and Planning Act
July 30, 2009 |
This week TCS released a letter to Congress supporting the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act. The legislation was introduced by...
House Committee on Science and Technology Hearing on Advancing Technology for Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
July 28, 2009 |
Last month, the House Committee on Science and Technology held a hearing on nuclear fuel reprocessing. The hearing covered a range of...
Bailout Bank Bio: Congaree Bancshares
July 28, 2009 |
Congaree Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Congaree State Bank, which provides various banking products and services to...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Busey Corporation
July 28, 2009 |
First Busey Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Busey Bank and Busey Bank, National Association that provide various retail...
DOE Halts Plan for Commercial Reprocessing: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Shelved
July 27, 2009 |
The Obama Administration has put the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) on hold until further notice. GNEP, an international...
Oil and Gas Industry Profits
July 16, 2009 |
Another Huge Year
Exxon Mobil likes breaking records. In 2007, it posted the biggest annual profit number reported by any American...
TCS Comments on Senate Hearing on Reform of 1872 Mining Law
July 13, 2009 |
Hearing: Balancing the Fed’s Independence with Systemic Risk Regulation
July 08, 2009 |
The Administration’s regulatory restructuring proposals released in June envision the Federal Reserve taking on the role of Systemic Risk...
Budget Committee Hearing on Statutory PAYGO
June 25, 2009 |
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag testified before the House Budget Committee yesterday on the Administration’s...
Congress Sends $106 Billion Supplemental to President
June 25, 2009 |
(June 26) We found 13 undisclosed earmarks worth $1.35 billion in the supplemental, including $904 million for seven C-130J aircraft,...
Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program 2009 Briefer
June 19, 2009 |
Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program to provide loan guarantees for...
Coal: A Long History of Subsidies
June 10, 2009 |
Subsidies to the coal industry began in 1932, when the federal government allowed companies to deduct a portion of their income to help...
TCS Fact Sheet: Coal Industry Profits
June 07, 2009 |
In 1932, the federal government began giving subsidies to the coal industry in order to help the industry recover initial capital...
Bailout Bank Bio: Oak Ridge Financial
June 03, 2009 |
Complete Database of House and Senate Earmark Requests
June 01, 2009 |
After searching all 99 senate websites (remember the Coleman/Franken Minnesota race is still unresolved), we now have a complete database...
Bailout Bank Bio: Chrysler
June 01, 2009 |
Chrysler LLC was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. In 2007 Cerberus Capital Management took up managing...
Bailout Bank Bio: General Motors
June 01, 2009 |
On June 1st GM filed for bankruptcy protection in order to reorganize. Under the proceeding the company will receive access to an...
Bailout Bank Bio: MutualFirst Financial
May 28, 2009 |
MutualFirst Financial, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mutual Federal Savings Bank, which provides various financial...
Visclosky FY08 & FY09 PMA Client Earmarks
May 28, 2009 |
The FBI has subpoenaed various records and documents from Rep. Visclosky’s (D-IN) offices in relation to the previously raided PMA Group...
Bailout Bank Bio: Monadnock Bancorp
May 28, 2009 |
Monadnock Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company for Monadnock Community Bank, based in Peterborough, New Hampshire. In December 2008,...
Bailout Bank Bio: MidSouth Bancorp (MidSouth Bank)
May 28, 2009 |
MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for MidSouth Bank, N.A., which provides commercial and retail community...
Bailout Bank Bio: North Central Bancshares (First Federal Savings Bank of Iowa)
May 28, 2009 |
North Central Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank of Iowa that offers banking services in...
Bailout Bank Bio: Northeast Bancorp (Northeast Bank)
May 28, 2009 |
Northeast Bancorp is a bank holding company for Northeast Bank, headquartered in Lewiston, Maine. The bank operates 11 banking branch...
Bailout Bank Bio: MidWestOne Financial Group
May 28, 2009 |
MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides retail and commercial banking products and services. It...
Bailout Bank Bio: Manhattan Bancorp
May 27, 2009 |
Manhattan Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Manhattan, N.A. that provides general commercial banking services to...
Bailout Bank Bio: MainSource Financial Group
May 27, 2009 |
MainSource Financial Group, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Greensburg, Indiana, with three banking subsidiaries:...
Bailout Bank Bio: Leader Bancorp
May 27, 2009 |
Leader Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Leader Bank N.A., headquartered in Arlington, MA. Leader Bank’s deposits are insured by...
Bailout Bank Bio: HMN Financial
May 27, 2009 |
HMN Financial, Inc. (HMN) is a stock savings bank holding company that wholly owns Home Federal Savings Bank (the Bank). The Bank...
Bailout Bank Bio: HopFed Bancorp
May 27, 2009 |
HopFed Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Heritage Bank that provides commercial banking services in southwestern...
Bailout Bank Bio: LNB Bancorp (Lorain National Bank)
May 27, 2009 |
LNB Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Lorain National Bank, which provides banking, mortgage, and brokerage services...
Bailout Bank Bio: Heritage Oaks Bancorp
May 27, 2009 |
Heritage Oaks Bancorp is a holding company that owns all of the outstanding common stock of Heritage Oaks Bank (the Bank). Heritage Oaks...
Bailout Bank Bio: Intervest Bancshares Corporation
May 27, 2009 |
Intervest Bancshares Corporation operates as a financial holding company for Intervest National Bank (bank) and Intervest Mortgage...
Bailout Bank Bio: Home Bancshares
May 27, 2009 |
Home BancShares, Inc., a financial holding company, provides a range of commercial and retail banking, and related financial products and...
Bailout Bank Bio: MetroCorp Bancshares
May 27, 2009 |
MetroCorp Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for MetroBank, National Association; and Metro United Bank that provide...
Bailout Bank Bio: LSB Corporation (River Bank)
May 27, 2009 |
LSB Corporation operates as the holding company for River Bank that provides various financial products and services to the general...
Bailout Bank Bio: Independent Bank Corporation
May 27, 2009 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. Independent paid $78.2...
Bailout Bank Bio: Independent Bank Corporation of Michigan
May 27, 2009 |
Independent Bank Corporation, a bank holding company, provides commercial banking services primarily in Michigan. The company offers...
Bailout Bank Bio: Lakeland Bancorp
May 27, 2009 |
Lakeland Bancorp, Inc., through its subsidiary, Lakeland Bank, provides various commercial and consumer banking products and services...
Bailout Bank Bio: ICB Financial
May 27, 2009 |
ICB Financial, through its subsidiary Inland Community Bank, N.A. provides a range of commercial banking services primarily to small...
Bailout Bank Bio: Hawthorn Bancshares
May 26, 2009 |
Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. (Hawthorn) is a bank holding company. The Company’s activities are limited to ownership, indirectly through its...
Bailout Bank Bio: Heritage Financial Corporation
May 26, 2009 |
Heritage Financial Corporation is a bank holding company. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of planning, directing and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Heartland Financial
May 26, 2009 |
Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (Heartland) is a multi-bank holding company, having 10 bank subsidiaries in the states of Iowa, Illinois,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Green Bankshares
May 25, 2009 |
Green Bankshares, Inc. serves as the bank holding company for GreenBank (the Bank), which is a Tennessee-chartered commercial bank that...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Northern Community Bancorp
May 25, 2009 |
First Northern Community Bancorp is a bank holding company whose only subsidiary, First Northern Bank of Dixon (First Northern), a...
Bailout Bank Bio: Flushing Financial Corporation
May 25, 2009 |
Flushing Financial Corporation serves as the holding company for Flushing Savings Bank (the Bank). The Bank owns four subsidiaries:...
Bailout Bank Bio: FPB Bancorp
May 25, 2009 |
FPB Bancorp, Inc. serves as the bank holding company for First Peoples Bank (the Bank). The Bank offers a range of retail and commercial...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Litchfield Financial (First National Bank of Litchfield)
May 25, 2009 |
First Litchfield Financial Corporation is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, The First...
Bailout Bank Bio: First M&F Corporation
May 25, 2009 |
First M&F Corporation is a holding company that engages in the banking business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Merchants and...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Financial Service (First Federal Savings Bank)
May 25, 2009 |
First Financial Service Corporation is the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank of Elizabethtown (the Bank). The Bank is...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Defiance
May 21, 2009 |
First Defiance Financial Corp. (First Defiance) is a unitary thrift holding company that, through its subsidiaries, focuses on...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Financial Holdings
May 21, 2009 |
First Financial Holdings, Inc. (First Financial) is a savings, loan holding and a financial holding company. It operates principally...
Bailout Bank Bio: Farmers Capital Bank Corporation
May 17, 2009 |
Farmers Capital Bank Corporation is a financial holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries provide a range of banking and bank-related...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Bancorp (First Bank)
May 17, 2009 |
First Bancorp is a bank holding company. The principal activity of the Company is the ownership and operation of First Bank (the Bank), a...
Bailout Bank Bio: Emclaire Financial
May 17, 2009 |
Emclaire Financial Corp. is a financial holding company that provides a range of retail and commercial financial products and services to...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Community Bank Corporation
May 17, 2009 |
First Community Bank Corporation of America is a unitary savings and loan holding company with one bank subsidiary, First Community Bank...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Citizens Banc Corp
May 17, 2009 |
First Citizens Banc Corp. (FCBC) is a financial holding company. Though its subsidiaries, the Company is engaged in the business of...
Bailout Bank Bio: Community Financial Corp.
May 17, 2009 |
Community Financial Corp. is a unitary savings and loan holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Community Bank...
Bailout Bank Bio: CalWest Bancorp
May 17, 2009 |
In step with its earthy-crunchy neighbors, CalWest Bancorp is into "organic." To address its gofor al an expanded geographic presence in...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Community Corporation
May 17, 2009 |
First Community Corporation serves as the bank holding company for its wholly owned subsidiary First Community Bank, N.A (the Bank). The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Community Partners Bancorp
May 17, 2009 |
Community Partners Bancorp (Community Partners) is a bank holding company. The Company’s wholly owned banking subsidiaries are Two River...
Bailout Bank Bio: Financial Institutions, Inc
May 17, 2009 |
Financial Institutions, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Five Star Bank, which provides consumer and commercial banking and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Enterprise Financial Services
May 17, 2009 |
Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (EFSC) is a financial holding company. The Company provides a range of banking and wealth management...
Bailout Bank Bio: Timberland Bancorp
May 13, 2009 |
Timberland Bancorp, Inc. was established for the purpose of becoming the holding company for Timberland Savings Bank, SSB (the Bank). The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Taylor Capital Group
May 13, 2009 |
Taylor Capital Group, Inc., based in Rosemont, Illinois, serves as the holding company for Cole Taylor Bank, which is primarily engaged...
Bailout Bank Bio: Codorus Valley Bancorp
May 13, 2009 |
Codorus Valley Bancorp, Inc. (Codorus Valley) is a holding company with one wholly owned bank subsidiary, PeoplesBank, A Codorus Valley...
Bailout Bank Bio: W.T.B. Financial (Washington Trust Bank)
May 13, 2009 |
W.T.B. Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for Washington Trust Bank. Washington Trust is the largest privately held commercial...
Bailout Bank Bio: Colony Bankcorp
May 13, 2009 |
Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (Colony) is a holding company. Colony provides, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, a range of products and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Community Bankers Trust
May 13, 2009 |
Community Bankers Trust Corporation, formerly Community Bankers Acquisition Corp., is a bank holding company and a financial holding...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bridge Capital Holdings
May 12, 2009 |
Bridge Capital Holdings is the holding company for Bridge Bank, National Association (the Bank), which engages in general commercial...
Bailout Bank Bio: Citizens First Corporation
May 12, 2009 |
Citizens First Corporation is the bank holding company for Citizens First Bank (the bank). Citizens First Bank is headquartered in...
Bailout Bank Bio: BNCCORP
May 12, 2009 |
BNCCORP, Inc. is a bank holding company for BNC National Bank, with 20 locations in Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Citizens Bancshares Corporation
May 12, 2009 |
Citizens Bancshares Corporation is the bank holding company of Citizens Trust Bank (the Bank). The Company was organized to facilitate...
Bailout Bank Bio: Centra Financial Holdings
May 12, 2009 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. Centra Financial paid...
Bailout Bank Bio: Citizens & Northern Corporation
May 12, 2009 |
Citizens & Northern Corporation is a holding company that is engaged in community banking. The Company is engaged in providing a range of...
Bailout Bank Bio: CoBiz Financial
May 12, 2009 |
CoBiz Financial Inc. (CoBiz) is a financial holding company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The Company’s wholly owned subsidiary...
Bailout Bank Bio: Coastal Banking Company
May 12, 2009 |
Coastal Banking Company, Inc. is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Lowcountry National Bank and...
Bailout Bank Bio: BanTrust Financial Group
May 11, 2009 |
BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. (BancTrust) is a multi-bank holding company. The Company provides an array of traditional financial...
Bailout Bank Bio: Berkshire Hills Bancorp
May 11, 2009 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. Berkshire Hills paid...
Bailout Bank Bio: Beach Business Bank
May 11, 2009 |
Beach Business Bank, a small bank headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, operates two branches, in Manhattan Beach and Long Beach....
Bailout Bank Bio: Bar Harbor Bankshares
May 11, 2009 |
Bar Harbor Bankshares is a bank holding company. The Company has one wholly owned operating subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust (the...
Bailout Bank Bio: BCSB
May 11, 2009 |
BCSB Bankcorp Inc. is a federally chartered mid-tier stock holding company. BCSB Bankcorp owns all of Baltimore County Savings Bank,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc.
May 11, 2009 |
Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc. is the holding company for Bank Rhode Island (the Bank). It has no significant assets other than the common...
Bailout Bank Bio: AmeriServ Financial
May 10, 2009 |
AmeriServ Financial, Inc. is a bank holding company that owns all of the outstanding shares of AmeriServ Financial Bank (the Bank). The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Annapolis Bancorp, Inc
May 10, 2009 |
Annapolis Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, BankAnnapolis (the Bank). The Bank...
Database of FY2010 Earmark Requests
May 06, 2009 |
Update (May 7, 2009): It has now been just over a month since the deadline for members to disclose on their websites all FY2010 earmark...
Ethanol Subsidies: Too Much for Too Little
April 29, 2009 |
Through a combination of subsidies, trade restrictions, and government mandates a handful of corporate agribusinesses and oil companies...
Bailout Bank Bio: Yadkin Valley Bank
April 28, 2009 |
Yadkin Valley Financial Corporation (Yadkin) is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Yadkin Valley...
Bailout Bank Bio: Park National Corporation
April 28, 2009 |
Park National Corporation is a financial holding company. Its primary subsidiary is Park National Bank. The bank has branches in Ohio and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Valley Financial Corporation
April 28, 2009 |
Valley Financial Corporation is the holding company for Valley Bank (the Bank). Valley Bank conducts a general commercial banking...
Bailout Bank Bio: S&T Bancorp
April 28, 2009 |
S&T Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company. Its banking subsidiary is S&T Bank, which has 46 branch offices located in Allegheny,...
Bailout Bank Bio: F.N.B. Corporation
April 28, 2009 |
F.N.B. Corporation is a bank holding company for First National Bank, which operates in Pennsylvania and Ohio. FNB has expanded its scope...
Fact Sheet: Border Fence Costs Out of Bounds
April 26, 2009 |
Congress mandated the constuction of hundreds of miles of fencing along our Southern border in 2006 without any real knowledge of its...
Bailout Bank Bio: Centrue Bank
April 26, 2009 |
Centrue Financial Corporation is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Centrue Bank (the Bank). The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Alarion Bank
April 26, 2009 |
Alarion Bank provides financial products and services. The company offers personal and business banking services, including checking...
TCS Releases Space Security Database
April 07, 2009 |
Space is crucial to our national security, and we’ve got the skyrocketing budgets to prove it. The United States spends billions on...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Merchants Corporation
April 05, 2009 |
First Merchants Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. It has 65 locations in Indiana and Ohio. It...
Bailout Bank Bio: Anchor Bank
April 05, 2009 |
Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. is a savings and loan holding company, which operates through its wholly owned banking subsidiary,...
TCS on Gates Defense Budget Cuts
April 05, 2009 |
The boom finally lowered on the Pentagon’s budget today, with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates revealing the major weapons cuts...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of America (and Merrill Lynch)
March 26, 2009 |
On September 15, 2008 Bank of America acquired the investment bank Merrill Lynch.
Bank of America
Bank of America is the nation’s...
Bailout Bank Bio: FirstMerit Corporation
March 25, 2009 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. FirstMerit paid $125...
Bailout Bank Bio: Dickinson Financial (Bank Midwest)
March 25, 2009 |
Dickinson Financial Corporation is the holding company for Bank Midwest, as well as a number of military banks. Bank Midwest operates 70...
Bailout Bank Bio: National Penn Bancshares
March 24, 2009 |
National Penn Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding for National Penn Bank, which provides banking services primarily in eastern and...
Bailout Bank Bio: SVB Financial Group
March 23, 2009 |
SVB Financial Group is a bank holding company for Silicon Valley Bank. SVB Financial Group operates 27 offices in the United States and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Provident Bankshares Corporation
March 23, 2009 |
Provident Bankshares Corporation is the bank holding company for Provident Bank. The Bank serves individuals and businesses through a...
Bailout Bank Bio: PrivateBancorp
March 23, 2009 |
PrivateBancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company for six banking subsidiaries, with 23 offices in Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee,...
Bailout Bank Bio: United Community Banks
March 23, 2009 |
United Community Banks, Inc. is a bank holding company that conducts its operations through United Community Bank, Brevard, North...
Bailout Bank Bio: MB Financial
March 23, 2009 |
MB Financial, Inc. (MB Financial) is a financial holding company with 73 banking offices located primarily in the Chicago area. The...
Bailout Bank Bio: International Bancshares Corporation
March 23, 2009 |
International Bancshares Corporation is a multi-bank financial holding company. Its primary banking subsidiary is IBC Bank. International...
Bailout Bank Bio: East West Bancorp
March 22, 2009 |
East West Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding for East West Bank, which provides baking services at 70 branches in the Los Angeles...
Bailout Bank Bio: Fulton Financial
March 22, 2009 |
Fulton Financial Corporation is a bank holding company for eleven community banks, in addition to two financial services companies and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Flagstar Bancorp
March 22, 2009 |
Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. is the largest publicly traded savings bank in the Midwest. Its subsidiary is Flagstar Bank. In October 2008, the...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Banks
March 22, 2009 |
First Banks, the holding company for The San Francisco Company, whose subsidiary, First Bank, is a privately owned bank held by Chairman...
Bailout Bank Bio: Sterling Financial Corporation
March 22, 2009 |
Sterling Financial Corporation is a bank holding company for Sterling Savings Bank and Golf Savings Bank, with 178 branches in...
Bailout Bank Bio: First BanCorp
March 22, 2009 |
First BanCorp. is a financial holding company that owns FirstBank Puerto Rico (FirstBank or the Bank). The Company is a full service...
Bailout Bank Bio: M&T Bank
March 22, 2009 |
M&T Bank Corporation is a bank holding company for M&T Bank, which operates 704 branch offices in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania,...
Bailout Bank Bio: New York Private Bank & Trust
March 22, 2009 |
New York Private Bank and Trust is a bank holding company for Emigrant Bank, and is based in New York City. NYPBT is the 50th largest...
F-22: No More Second Helpings
March 18, 2009 |
Goodness, the difference an economic crisis can make. A few years ago, advertisements by defense contractors arguing that the U.S. should...
Bailout Bank Bio: Discover
March 17, 2009 |
Discover Financial Services is a financial services company with headquarters in Riverwoods, Illinois. It was founded in 1986 and is...
Bailout Bank Bio: Northern Trust
March 17, 2009 |
Northern Trust Corporation is a financial holding company for Northern Trust Company. The company has 85 offices in the United States and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Popular, Inc.
March 17, 2009 |
Popular, Inc. is a diversified bank holding company. The company operates in three target markets: Puerto Rico, the mainland United...
Nuclear Weapons Spending in the Omnibus
March 05, 2009 |
A look at the nuclear weapons budget in the omnibus reveals that while Congress is keeping nuke funding on a short leash, a controversial...
The President’s Energy Budget
March 03, 2009 |
The President’s budget released last week includes $ 26.3 billion for the Department of Energy, a $2.1 billion increase over 2008 and...
Bailout Bank Bio: AIG
March 03, 2009 |
UPDATE: March 4, 2009.
After reporting a $61.7 billion quarterly loss – the biggest single quarter loss ever – in early March AIG asked...
TCS Presents: Loan Guarantees and You
February 25, 2009 |
Today TCS explained the basics of the Department of Energy's loan guarantees program at an Institute for Energy and Environmental...
Bailout Bank Bio: The First Bancorp
February 19, 2009 |
The First Bancorp, Inc., is the bank-holding company for The First, N.A., with headquarters in Damariscotta, Maine. The First Bancorp,...
National Security Spending in the Stimulus
February 13, 2009 |
The axe has fallen on the final version of the stimulus bill, and some national security spending ended up on the cutting room floor....
Bailout Bank Bio: Wells Fargo & Company (and Wachovia Bank)
February 13, 2009 |
In late December 2008, shareholders of Wells Fargo and Wachovia agreed to Wells Fargo’s offer to buy Wachovia for $11.8 billion....
Bailout Bank Bio: CIT Group Inc (CIT)
February 11, 2009 |
CIT Group Inc. (CIT) is a global commercial finance company that provides financial products and advisory services to more than one...
Failing Salmon Recovery Efforts are Costing Taxpayers Billions
February 09, 2009 |
Over the last two decades, federal agencies have spent more than $8 billion on efforts to restore salmon to the Columbia and Snake River...
Bailout Bank Bio: Cecil Bancorp
February 03, 2009 |
Cecil Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Cecil Bank (the Bank). The Bank provides commercial banking services to individuals and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Central Federal Corporation
February 03, 2009 |
Central Federal Corporation serves as the holding company for CFBank, a community-oriented savings institution. As of December 31, 2007,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Central Jersey Bancorp
February 03, 2009 |
Central Jersey Bancorp, incorporated on March 7, 2000, is a bank holding company. The Company combined its two bank subsidiaries,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Cache Valley Banking Company
February 03, 2009 |
Cache Valley Bank began as the Bank of North Park, with the name being changed to Cache Valley Bank in 1981. It is a privately owned...
Bailout Bank Bio: Capital Bancorp
February 03, 2009 |
Capital Bank, a subsidiary of Capital Bancorp, Inc., is a private community bank. Its deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit...
Bailout Bank Bio: California Oaks State Bank
February 03, 2009 |
California Oaks (Cal Oaks) State Bank has $123 million in total assets and is located in Ventura County with offices in Thousand Oaks and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Central Pacific Financial Corp
February 03, 2009 |
Central Pacific Financial Corp. is a bank holding company that, through its banking subsidiary, Central Pacific Bank, offers full service...
Bailout Bank Bio: C&F Financial Corporation
February 03, 2009 |
C & F Financial Corporation (C & F Financial) is a bank holding company that owns all of the stock of its sole operating subsidiary, C&F...
Bailout Bank Bio: Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc.
February 03, 2009 |
Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc. was established for the purpose of serving as the bank holding company of Carolina Bank (the Bank), which is...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bridgeview Bancorp
February 02, 2009 |
Bridgeview Bancorp is a privately owned community bank with headquarters in Bridgeview, Illinois. It operates more than 15 banking...
Raising Questions About Transportation Spending in House Economic Stimulus Legislation
January 29, 2009 |
The transportation portion of the House stimulus package contains more than $43 billion for the Department of Transportation, including...
Bailout Bank Bio: Crescent Financial Corporation
January 28, 2009 |
Crescent Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Crescent State Bank, with 12 full service branch offices in Cary, Apex,...
Water Infrastructure Spending in the House Economic Stimulus
January 28, 2009 |
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructs large water projects (dams, levees, pumping sand on beaches)...
Bailout Bank Bio: Central Bancorp, Inc.
January 28, 2009 |
Central Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company of Central Co-operative Bank, which provides commercial banking services in the northwestern...
Senate Supports Nuke Labs, Border Fence in Stimulus
January 28, 2009 |
The House and Senate agree on many of the national security-related agencies that should receive stimulus funding. The Defense...
Bailout Bank Bio: Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida
January 28, 2009 |
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is a bank holding company for Seacoast National Bank. Seacoast National operates in...
Bailout Bank Bio: Community West Bancshares
January 28, 2009 |
Community West Bancshares is a bank holding company of Community West Bank, with five branches located in Goleta, Ventura, Santa Maria,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Idaho Bancorp
January 28, 2009 |
Idaho Bancorp is the the holding company for Idaho Banking Company, which provides service to customers in southwestern Idaho. The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Capital Bank Corporation
January 27, 2009 |
Capital Bank Corporation is the holding company for Capital Bank in North Carolina. It operates 27 branch offices, including 5 branch...
Bailout Bank Bio: Capital Pacific Bancorp
January 27, 2009 |
Capital Pacific Bancorp operates as the holding company for Capital Pacific Bank, which provides banking services to businesses and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Unity Bancorp, Inc.
January 27, 2009 |
Unity Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Unity Bank, which has 17 branch offices. The company is based in Clinton, New Jersey....
Bailout Bank Bio: Center Bancorp, Inc.
January 27, 2009 |
Center Bancorp, Inc. is a one-bank holding company of The Union Center National Bank (the Bank) its principal subsidiary. As of the end...
Bailout Bank Bio: 1st Constitution Bancorp
January 27, 2009 |
1st Constitution Bancorp serves as the bank holding company for its wholly owned subsidiary 1st Constitution Bank (the Bank). It is...
Bailout Bank Bio: Sandy Spring Bancorp
January 27, 2009 |
Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Sandy Spring Bank, a community banking organization. The company is involved in...
Bailout Bank Bio: Centerstate Banks of Florida, Inc.
January 27, 2009 |
Centerstate Banks of Florida, Inc. is a bank holding company, with 37 banking locations in 9 counties in the central Florida. The company...
Bailout Bank Bio: Comerica Incorporated
January 27, 2009 |
Comerica Incorporated is a financial holding company, providing financial products and services throughout North America. As of the end...
Bailout Bank Bio: 1st Source Corporation
January 27, 2009 |
1st Source Corporation is a bank holding company that provides, through its subsidiaries, an array of financial products and services....
Bailout Bank Bio: Marshall & Ilsley Corporation
January 27, 2009 |
Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (M&I) is a diversified financial services company with five bank and trust subsidiaries including its lead...
Bailout Bank Bio: The South Financial Group
January 27, 2009 |
The South Financial Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Carolina First Bank that provides a range of commercial and consumer...
Bailout Bank Bio: Center Financial Corporation
January 27, 2009 |
Center Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Center Bank. As of the end of 2007, it operated 18 branch offices and 8 loan...
Bailout Bank Bio: State Street Corporation
January 27, 2009 |
State Street Corporation is one of the world’s largest global financial services companies, with $1.7 trillion in assets under management...
Bailout Bank Bio: Washington Federal Inc
January 27, 2009 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. Washington Federal...
Bailout Bank Bio: West Bancorporation
January 27, 2009 |
West Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the holding company for West Bank, which provides commercial banking products and services to...
Joint Letter on DOE Loan Guarantee Plan
January 16, 2009 |
On behalf of our combined memberships, we urge you to ensure the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program is not granted...
Bailout Bank Bio: StellarOne Corp
January 15, 2009 |
StellarOne Corp., formerly Virginia Financial Group, Inc., is a bank holding company. StellarOne Corp has a network of 35 branches...
Bailout Bank Bio: Morgan Stanley
January 15, 2009 |
Morgan Stanley is a New York-based financial institution with operations on six continents. Along with Goldman Sachs, in late September...
Bailout Bank Bio: American Express
January 15, 2009 |
American Express was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York. It is known best for its global payments and travel...
Bailout Bank Bio: Monarch Financial Holdings
January 15, 2009 |
Monarch Financial Holdings, Inc. is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Monarch Bank. The company...
Bailout Bank Bio: Susquehanna Banchshares
January 15, 2009 |
Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. is a financial holding company that operates through its subsidiaries in the mid-Atlantic region. The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Southern Missouri Bancorp
January 15, 2009 |
Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Southern Missouri Bank & Trust Co. The Bank conducts its business from its...
Report: U.S. Spends Over $52 Billion on Nukes
January 15, 2009 |
How much does the United States spend on nuclear weapons? Seems like a simple question that the agency charged with tending our nuclear...
Bailout Bank Bio: Mid Penn Bancorp
January 14, 2009 |
Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company for Mid Penn Bank. It operates 15 offices located in Dauphin, Northumberland,...
Bailout Bank Bio: NewBridge Bancorp
January 13, 2009 |
NewBridge Bancorp is a bank holding company located in Greensboro, North Carolina. NewBridge operates banks in North Carolina and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Oak Valley Bancorp
January 13, 2009 |
Oak Valley Bancorp is a bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank, based in Oakdale, California. The company operates 12...
Bailout Bank Bio: Patapsco Bancorp, Inc.
January 13, 2009 |
Patapsco Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company of The Patapsco Bank, with five full-service offices located in Dundalk, Parkville, Carney,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Pacific Commerce Bank
January 13, 2009 |
Pacific Commerce Bank is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and serves the Japanese-American, Chinese-American, other...
Bailout Bank Bio: Indiana Community Bancorp
January 13, 2009 |
Indiana Community Bancorp, formerly Home Federal Bancorp, is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Peapack-Gladstone Financial
January 13, 2009 |
Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation is a bank holding Company for Peapack-Gladstone Bank in New Jersey. It operates 21 full-service...
Bailout Bank Bio: Old Line Bancshares
January 13, 2009 |
Old Line Bancshares, Inc. is a holding company for Old Line Bank, with its headquarters in Bowie, Maryland. The bank has a branch in...
Bailout Bank Bio: Regions Financial
January 12, 2009 |
Regions Financial Corporation is a financial holding company that operates throughout the South, Midwest and Texas, with approximately...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Community Bancshares
January 08, 2009 |
First Community Bancshares, Inc. is a holding company for First Community Bank which operates 57 banking locations in the states of...
Bailout Bank Bio: Hampton Roads Bancshares
January 08, 2009 |
Hampton Roads Bankshares, Inc. primarily serves as a holding company for the Bank of Hampton Roads, whose
primary service area...
Bailout Bank Bio: First California Financial
January 08, 2009 |
First California Financial Group Inc., formerly known as National Mercantile Bancorp, is a bank holding company, for its wholly owned...
Bailout Bank Bio: Horizon Bancorp
January 08, 2009 |
Horizon Bancorp is a bank holding company for Horizon Bank, which provides services in commercial banking. Horizon Bank operates two full...
Bailout Bank Bio: Fidelity Southern Corporation
January 08, 2009 |
Fidelity Southern Corporation is a bank holding company that operates primarily through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fidelity Bank....
Bailout Bank Bio: Elmira Savings Bank
January 08, 2009 |
Elmira Savings Bank operates as an independent community bank. The company has eleven banking offices: three in Elmira, three in Ithaca,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Eastern Virginia Bankshares
January 08, 2009 |
Eastern Virginia Bankshares, Inc. is a bank holding company for EVB, which operates 23 service branches in eastern Virginia. EVB is a...
Bailout Bank Bio: Fidelity Bancorp, Inc.
January 08, 2009 |
Fidelity Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company that provides a range of banking services through its wholly owned banking subsidiary,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Saigon National Bank
January 08, 2009 |
According to its website: “Saigon National Bank is a locally owned community bank devoted to serving the financial needs of the...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Financial Bancorp
January 08, 2009 |
First Financial Bancorp is a bank holding company that engages in the business of commercial banking and other banking and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Huntington Bancshares
January 08, 2009 |
Huntington Bancshares is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with 600 regional banking offices in Indiana,...
Bailout Bank Bio: TIB Financial
January 07, 2009 |
TIB Financial Corp. is a financial holding company with several subsidiaries: TIB Bank, The Bank of Venice and Naples Capital Advisors,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Seacoast Commerce Bank
January 07, 2009 |
Seacoast Commerce Bank services businesses and individuals in Chula Vista and San Diego County, California. The bank is headquartered...
Bailout Bank Bio: Alliance Financial
January 07, 2009 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. Alliance paid $27.2...
Bailout Bank Bio: Cadence Financial
January 07, 2009 |
Cadence Financial Corporation is a financial holding company, with assets consisting primarily of its investment in Cadence Bank. Cadence...
Bailout Bank Bio: Wainwright Bank & Trust
January 07, 2009 |
Wainwright Bank & Trust Company is a banking company based in Boston, Massachusetts. As of December 2007, Wainwright operated 10...
Terms for Auto Bailout Released
December 19, 2008 |
The Treasury Department just released terms for the bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. Taxpayers for Common Sense staff will be...
Bailout Bank Bio: City National Corporation
December 15, 2008 |
City National Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of City National Corporation and is based in Beverly Hills, California. It operates 62...
Bailout Bank Bio: Citizens South Banking Corporation
December 15, 2008 |
Citizens South Banking Corporation is the holding company for Citizens South Bank. Citizens South Bank has 14 full-service branch offices...
Bailout Bank Bio: BNC Bancorp
December 15, 2008 |
BNC Bancorp operates as the holding company for Bank of North Carolina, which provides banking products and services in Cabarrus,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Dime Community Bancshares
December 15, 2008 |
NOTE: Dime Community Bancshares was approved to receive $77.3 million from the Treasury Department through the Capital Purchase Program,...
Bailout Bank Bio: CVB Financial
December 15, 2008 |
CVB Financial Corp. serves as the holding company of Citizens Business Bank. The bank’s customers consist primarily of small to mid-sized...
Bailout Bank Bio: Commerce National Bank
December 15, 2008 |
Commerce National Bank offers commercial banking services in Orange County, California. The bank was founded in 2003 and is headquartered...
Bailout Bank Bio: Encore Bancshares, Inc
December 15, 2008 |
Encore Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company for Encore Bank headquartered in Houston, Texas. As of December 31, 2007, it operated...
Bailout Bank Bio: 1st Financial Services Corporation
December 12, 2008 |
1st Financial Services Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Mountain 1st Bank & Trust Company. The company, headquartered...
Bailout Bank Bio: Trustmark Corporation
December 12, 2008 |
Trustmark Corporation is a multi-bank holding company whose primary subsidiary is Trustmark National Bank (TNB). Trustmark conducts...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of Marin Bancorp
December 12, 2008 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. Bank of Marin paid $28...
Bailout Bank Bio: Ameris Bancorp
December 12, 2008 |
Ameris Bancorp is a financial holding company for the Ameris Bank, operating 46 banking offices in Georgia, Alabama, northern Florida,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of the Ozarks Inc
December 12, 2008 |
Bank of the Ozarks, Inc. is a bank holding company which owns Bank of the Ozarks. Bank of the Ozarks conducts operations through 65...
Bailout Bank Bio: Blue Valley Ban Corp
December 12, 2008 |
Blue Valley Ban Corp. (Blue Valley) is a financial holding company for its primary wholly owned subsidiary, Bank of Blue Valley. The bank...
Nuclear Subsidies Past and Present
December 12, 2008 |
Since the beginning of nuclear energy the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the industry. More than $85 billion has...
Tongass Timber Plan Plunders Taxpayer Pockets
December 11, 2008 |
Download a pdf version of this factsheet
SUPPORT THE ANDREWS-CHABOT AMENDMENT TO CUT
ROAD-BUILDING SUBSIDIES
Since 1982, the Forest...
Congressional Oversight Panel for the Bailout Releases First Report
December 10, 2008 |
The Congressional Oversight Panel for Economic Stabilization has released its first report on the $700 billion Emergency Economic...
Bailout Bank Bio: Wintrust Financial
December 09, 2008 |
Wintrust Financial Corporation is a financial holding company that controls 15 subsidiaries that serve customers in the greater Chicago,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Tennessee Commerce Bancorp
December 09, 2008 |
Tennessee Commerce Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company of Tennessee Commerce Bank. Tennessee Commerce is headquartered in Franklin,...
Bailout Bank Bio: WesBanco, Inc.
December 09, 2008 |
WesBanco, Inc. operates as the holding company for WesBanco Bank, Inc. WesBanco operates 115 banking offices in West Virginia, Ohio, and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Severn Bancorp Inc.
December 09, 2008 |
Severn Bancorp is a savings and loan holding company. Its principal subsidiary is Severn Savings Bank. Severn operates in Maryland,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Old National Bancorp
December 08, 2008 |
Old National Bancorp is a financial services holding company based in Evansville, Indiana. Its subsidiary, Old National Bank, provides...
Bailout Bank Bio: TowneBank
December 08, 2008 |
TowneBank, based in Portsmouth, Virginia, offers banking services throughout the Hampton Roads region in Southeastern, Virginia. The...
Bailout Bank Bio: Heritage Commerce Corp
December 08, 2008 |
Heritage Commerce Corp is the holding company for Heritage Bank of Commerce. They are located in San Jose, California. The bank was...
Bailout Bank Bio: Whitney Holding Corporation
December 08, 2008 |
Whitney Holding Corporation is a bank holding company based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company is the parent of Whitney National...
Analysis of Energy Tax Provisions Included in the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
December 05, 2008 |
The following is a summary of the non-consumer energy tax breaks included in H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008....
Bailout Bank Bio: Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc.
December 05, 2008 |
Boston Private Financial, Inc. is a holding company located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company owns a number of financial services...
Bailout Bank Bio: Cathay General Bancorp
December 05, 2008 |
Cathay General Bancorp is the holding company for Cathay Bank, which is located in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles, CA. According to...
Bailout Bank Bio: KeyCorp
December 04, 2008 |
KeyCorp is a national financial services company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the parent company of KeyBank which has branches in 13...
Bailout Bank Bio: Columbia Banking System Inc.
December 04, 2008 |
Columbia Banking System, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. Columbia operates 55 banks branches in parts...
Bailout Bank Bio: BB&T Corporation
December 03, 2008 |
BB&T is a regional financial holding company. The core of its business and franchise was created by the merger of equals between BB&T and...
Bailout Bank Bio: Cascade Financial Corporation
December 03, 2008 |
Cascade Financial Corp. is a bank holding company for Cascade Bank, which operates in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. In...
Bailout Bank Bio: Wilshire Bancorp
December 03, 2008 |
Wilshire Bancorp is a bank holding company for Wilshire State Bank, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The bank has branch offices...
Bailout Bank Bio: Citizens Republic
November 24, 2008 |
Citizens Republic Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Flint, Michigan. In addition to Michigan, it has banks in Wisconsin,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Iberiabank Corp
November 24, 2008 |
IBERIABANK Corp. is the holding company for IBERIA Bank and Pulaski Bank and Trust. IBERIABANK Corp. received approval in early...
GAO: More than $49 Million in Potentially Ineligible Farm Payments
November 24, 2008 |
Just months after a new multi-billion dollar five year farm bill was passed into law, a federal watchdog reports that individuals who are...
Bailout Bank Bio: Great Southern
November 24, 2008 |
Great Southern Bancorp Inc. is a holding company based in Springfield, Missouri. Great Southern has been approved to receive up to $60...
Bailout Bank Bio: Nara Bancorp
November 24, 2008 |
Nara Bancorp is the holding company for Nara Bank, located in Los Angeles, California. Nara was begun as a community bank intended to...
Bailout Bank Bio: TCF Financial
November 20, 2008 |
TCF Financial Corp. recently announced that it would participate in the Treasury Department’s Capital Purchase Program, and expects to...
Bailout Bank Bio: Broadway Financial
November 20, 2008 |
Broadway Financial Corporation announced in November that it received $9 million under the Treasury Department’s Capital Purchase...
Bailout Bank Bio: Wilmington Trust
November 20, 2008 |
Wilmington Trust Corporation, based in Wilmington, DE, is a financial holding company whose primary subsidiary is Wilmington Trust...
Bailout Bank Bio: Peoples Bancorp
November 20, 2008 |
Peoples Bancorp is a bank holding company based in Ohio with bank branches in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. In early November,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Western Alliance Bancorporation
November 20, 2008 |
Western Alliance Bancorporation, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a bank holding company. According to its website, Western...
Bailout Bank Bio: Signature Bank
November 19, 2008 |
New York City-based Signature Bank is a full-service commercial bank with 21 private client offices in and around New York City....
Bailout Bank Bio: Simmons First National
November 18, 2008 |
Simmons First National Corporation is a financial holding company based in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The primary banking subsidiary is...
Bailout Bank Bio: Synovus Financial
November 18, 2008 |
Synovus is a Columbus, Georgia based financial services holding company that recently announced its participation in the Treasury...
Bailout Bank Bio: Intermountain Community
November 18, 2008 |
Intermountain Community Bancorp is a bank holding company located in Idaho. It is the bank holding company for Panhandle State Bank, the...
Bailout Bank Bio: Banner Corporation
November 18, 2008 |
Banner Corporation is a Washington based bank holding company with banks in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In a November 4th press...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Horizon National
November 18, 2008 |
First Horizon National Corporation is a holding company for First Tennessee Bank National Association and other banking-related...
Bailout Bank Bio: Webster Financial
November 18, 2008 |
Webster Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut. Its banking subsidiary is Webster Bank,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of Commerce Holdings
November 18, 2008 |
Bank of Commerce Holdings, based in Redding, California, is the holding company for Redding Bank of Commerce and several other related...
Bailout Bank Bio: Midwest Banc Holdings Inc
November 18, 2008 |
Midwest Banc Holdings, Inc. is a bank holding company operating in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. In early November, Midwest...
Bailout Bank Bio: Pacific Capital
November 18, 2008 |
Pacific Capital Bancorp is a bank holding company of Pacific Capital Bank, N.A., which operates 48 branches under several brand names...
Bailout Bank Bio: Porter Bancorp
November 17, 2008 |
Porter Bancorp, headquartered in Louisville, KY, is a bank holding company whose subsidiary, PBI Bank, has nineteen branches in twelve...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Midwest Bancorp
November 17, 2008 |
First Midwest Bank began in Joliet, Illinois and continues to serve the southern Chicago suburbs and the Quad Cities area. Their...
Bailout Bank Bio: Bank of New York Mellon
November 17, 2008 |
The Bank of New York Mellon was established in 2007 with the merger of Mellon Financial Corporation and The Bank of New York Company,...
Bailout Bank Bio: PNC Financial Services Group
November 17, 2008 |
PNC is a Pittsburgh-based bank that is among the largest of U.S. banks. It received $7.7 billion under the Treasury Department’s Capital...
Bailout Bank Bio: Suntrust Banks Inc
November 17, 2008 |
SunTrust Banks Inc. is a bank holding company based in Atlanta, G. The corporation’s largest subsidiary is SunTrust Bank which has 1,700...
Bailout Bank Bio: Associated Banc-Corp
November 17, 2008 |
Associated Banc-Corp (ABC) is a bank holding company with headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin. ABC is the 37th largest bank holding...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Pactrust Bancorp
November 17, 2008 |
First PacTrust Bancorp is a holding company and holds all the stocks for Pacific Trust Bank. It is located in Chula Vista, California. In...
Bailout Bank Bio: First Niagara Financial Group
November 17, 2008 |
Update
The company recently announced that it had re-purchased its preferred stock from the Treasury Department. First Niagara paid...
Bailout Bank Bio: J.P. Morgan Chase & Co
November 14, 2008 |
J.P. Morgan Chase is a New York based financial services company with worldwide operations. J.P. Morgan Chase is the umbrella brand that...
Bailout Bank Bio: UCBH Holdings Inc
November 14, 2008 |
UCBH Holdings is the holding company for United Commercial Bank, Ltd (UCB). In October it announced that it would participate in the...
Bailout Bank Bio: Valley National Bancorp
November 14, 2008 |
Valley National Bank is a federally chartered commercial bank operating 195 branches in parts of northern and central New Jersey and some...
Bailout Bank Bio: Fifth Third Bancorp
November 14, 2008 |
Fifth Third (5/3) Bank is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based corporation, and one of the largest money managers in the Midwest with 1,300 branches...
Bailout Bank Bio: Umpqua Holdings Corp
November 14, 2008 |
Umpqua Bank is a community bank with 147 branches across Oregon, Washington and California. Umpqua is based in the Portland, Oregon...
Oil and Gas Subsidies: Overview
November 14, 2008 |
Taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas industry have played a major role in U.S. energy policy since 1916. Two of the largest tax breaks,...
Bailout Bank Bio: US Bancorp
November 13, 2008 |
U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, which is the country’s sixth largest bank,...
Bailout Bank Bio: Capital One Financial Inc
November 13, 2008 |
Capital One Financial is a financial services company whose products and services include consumer and commercial banking and credit card...
Bailout Bank Bio: Zions Bancorporation
November 12, 2008 |
Zions Bancorporation is expected to receive $1.4 billion in bailout funds from the Department of the Treasury.
Zions is a financial...
Bailout Bank Bio: Goldman Sachs
November 07, 2008 |
On October 28, 2008, Goldman Sachs received $10 billion of the first $125 billion from the $700 billion bailout bill. Goldman Sachs is a...
Defense Spending: Change or More of the Same?
November 07, 2008 |
President-elect Barack Obama’s new transition web site is pledging to review every major defense program for possible cuts, and...
Nuclear Reprocessing
October 31, 2008 |
Nuclear fuel reprocessing is the process of collecting nuclear waste to recover and reuse plutonium and uranium. Despite decades of...
Oil and Gas Companies Continue Receiving Billions in Taxpayer Subsidies while Reaping Record Profits
October 30, 2008 |
As was the case for much of the last decade, profits for major oil and gas companies continue to skyrocket. Exxon brought in over $14...
Treasury Releases Report on Bailout Expenditures
October 29, 2008 |
The Treasury Department has released its first bailout “transaction report,” which documents where $125 billion of the $700 billion in...
Stevens Trial: Defense Exhibits
October 29, 2008 |
The following is an exhaustive list of defense exhibits introduced in the trial against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), which concluded last week...
Senate Passes Bailout bill
October 01, 2008 |
The Senate passed the bailout bill 74-25 this evening. Here is the rollcall for the vote.
This is what we had to say about the Senate...
In their Own Words: U.S. Senators and the Bailout
September 30, 2008 |
TCS staff have scoured the web and wires for press releases or other official statements on the bailout from United States Senators in...
Stevens Trial: Allen Details Gifts to Stevens
September 30, 2008 |
Wednesday Morning (10/1/08):
Note: The afternoon testimony was cancelled due to a problem with a juror. Allen will be back on the stand...
President Signs Earmark-Laden Spending Bill
September 29, 2008 |
President George W. Bush signed a massive year-end spending bill late Tuesday, just hours before a new fiscal year began. The "Minibus"...
Bailout Bill and Related Resources
September 27, 2008 |
The latest version of the bailout bill was just released. Read it here.
Additional resources (we're adding more as we find them, so...
Stevens Tops FY2009 Earmark Heap
September 24, 2008 |
As Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) sat today in a federal courthouse while jurors were chosen in the federal trial against him, he received at...
Coal-to-Liquid Earmarks DOD Appropriations
September 23, 2008 |
Today the House passed a Continuing Resolution and a minibus that included the final FY09 Defense spending bill, which had 6 earmarks for...
2,321 Earmarks worth $6.6 Billion in Minibus Legislation
September 23, 2008 |
After a bit of speed reading, TCS staff came up with earmark totals for the CR/Def/DHS/MilCon bill that was released 13 hours ago. These...
Sample of Earmarks in the FY09 Minibus
September 23, 2008 |
It’s slow going looking through the earmarks, but here’s a few – some are repeat customers and some are rookie earmarks. More to...
Congress Releases $600 Billion Spending Bill for 2009
September 23, 2008 |
Late last night, the House released the more than $600 billion FY09 CR/MiniBus legislation, to fund much of the government through early...
Government Bailouts Top $1 Trillion in 2008
September 21, 2008 |
Update--September 23
Our transparency in government allies at Open CRS obtained a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report The Cost...
Draft Language of the Bailout Plans
September 21, 2008 |
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has drafted a replacement legislative package to the Administration's proposed bailout plan. With a quick glance...
Official TCS Comments on Oil Shale Management - Proposed Rule
September 21, 2008 |
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed rule for Oil Shale Management. Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) is a non-partisan...
House Releases Homeland Security Earmark Letters
September 18, 2008 |
The House Appropriations Committee has just released the earmark request letters for the 2009 Department of Homeland Security...
FY2009 Appropriations Bills: TCS Analyses and Earmark Databases
September 18, 2008 |
The following are links to TCS's analysis and database for each of the FY09 appropriations bills. (Note: With the exception of House...
Risky Business on Wall Street
September 16, 2008 |
This morning the federal government (which means you the American taxpayer) became the not-so-proud owner of American International Group...
Senate Adds $5.2 Billion in Earmarks to Defense Authorization Bill
September 16, 2008 |
The Senate is expected to pass the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill sometime tonight, but to do so they will have to resolve a raucous...
Sen. Obama (D-IL) Requested $860.6 million in earmarks FY2006-FY2008
September 11, 2008 |
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) requested 326 projects worth $860.6 million between FY2006 and FY2008, according to a Taxpayers for Common Sense...
Royalty-in-Kind: A Costly Complication
September 10, 2008 |
Under intense pressure from the oil and natural gas industry, the Minerals Management Service (MMS)1 started the Royalty-in-Kind (RIK)...
Clean Coal Projects: Cleaning Out the Pockets of Taxpayers
September 08, 2008 |
Since the late 1970’s, the federal government has funneled billions of dollars into “Clean Coal” technology and programs designed to make...
Cost of War Reports
August 30, 2008 |
Below are links to the monthly “Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Reports” compiled by the Defense Accounting Finance Service, DOD’s...
DOD: $13b to Contractors in Afghanistan
August 20, 2008 |
The Department of Defense paid contractors $13 billion for operations in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2007, according to documents...
110th Congress By the Numbers
August 18, 2008 |
110th Congress By the Numbers
1932
House or Senate Resolutions...
Top 10 Congressional Resolutions of the 110th Congress
August 18, 2008 |
TCS staff have taken a moment to reflect on the activities of the 110th Congress. Below is a list of some of their more "notable"...
CBO Lowballs Estimate of Iraq Contracts
August 13, 2008 |
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) got a lot of jaws dropping this week with a report estimating the U.S. has spent $85 billion on...
Senate Energy and Water Earmark Total Nearly Identical to Last Year
August 10, 2008 |
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY2009 Energy and Water appropriations bill contains 1,480 earmarks worth $3.50 billion (click here...
$35 Million in Undisclosed Earmarks in Senate State and Foreign Operations Bill
August 08, 2008 |
The 2009 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill contains 7 earmarks worth $35.4 million dollars (click here...
Very Little of Iraq Oil Surplus Goes to Rebuilding
August 05, 2008 |
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report tabulating U.S. and Iraqi expenditures on rebuilding efforts (click here for...
Nearly $200 million in Agriculture Earmarks in Senate Bill
August 04, 2008 |
The Senate Appropriations Committee included 307 earmarks worth about $197.2 million in the Fiscal Year 2009 Agriculture Appropriations...
House Earmarks $721 Million in Military Construction Appropriations Bill
July 31, 2008 |
The House of Representative today passed a bill to fund Military Construction and Veterans Affairs programs in fiscal year 2009 contains...
Silos Full of Subsidies
July 30, 2008 |
Overview
For over 70 years American taxpayers have been doling out billions of dollars every year to underwrite the agriculture sectors’...
TCS Statement on Don Young Ad Controversy
July 24, 2008 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written Statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense:
It has come to our...
House Appropriations Committee Starts to Move
July 23, 2008 |
Well, the House Appropriations Committee filed the Military Construction spending bill. This is the first show of actually moving bills...
Senate Doubles House Take of Financial Services Earmarks
July 23, 2008 |
The FY 2009 Senate Financial Services Appropriations bill contains 90 earmarks worth $221.3 million (click here to view the database)....
GAO: Defense Contract Audit Agency Bends to Contractor Pressure
July 22, 2008 |
TCS followers know we have argued for increased oversight of defense spending, particularly spending on contracts. The federal...
Earmarks for Energy and Water Projects Double in House Legislation
July 22, 2008 |
The FY 2009 House Energy and Water Appropriations bill contains 1,465 congressional earmarks for a total cost of more than $3.1 billion...
Oppose Attempts to Raid Treasury to Backfill Highway Trust Fund
July 21, 2008 |
July 23, 2008
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to oppose H.R. 6532, which would transfer $8 billion from...
Cost of Senate Labor-HHS Earmarks Increase Significantly
July 16, 2008 |
The FY 2009 Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill contains 942 earmarks for a total cost of more than $847...
Shelby, Milkulski Secure 25% of Earmarks on CJS Spending Bill
July 06, 2008 |
The FY 2009 Senate Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill contains 552 earmarks worth $471.4 million, according to an...
House Commerce Justice Science Spending Bill: 1,126 Earmarks, $442,562,000
July 01, 2008 |
The FY 2009 House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill contains 1,126 earmarks worth $442,562,000. That is a decrease of 13...
House Amps Up Energy Loan Guarantees
July 01, 2008 |
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program to grant loan guarantees for innovative...
House Labor-HHS Spending Bill: 1,371 Earmarks, $619 Million
June 29, 2008 |
The FY 2009 House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill contains 1371 earmarks for a total cost of $619,187,000. The number of projects...
$57 million in earmarks in the House 2009 Financial Services spending bill
June 26, 2008 |
The 2009 House Financial Services Appropriations bill contains 197 earmarks for a total of $57 million (click here to see the database)....
$197 Million in Homeland Security Earmarks in Senate Spending Bill
June 25, 2008 |
The Senate version of the 2009 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill includes 19 congressional earmarks for a total of...
Appropriations Committee Votes to Make DOJ Grants More Competitive
June 24, 2008 |
Last week, our good friends at the Project on Government Oversight released a new report that chronicled cronyism in grant making in the...
Oil and Gas Subsidies, Profits and Production: Colorado and Across the Nation
June 22, 2008 |
This is the first in a series of state specific analyses Taxpayers for Common Sense is completing on energy industry subsidies, profits and...
Emergency Supplemental Bill - Take 1
June 19, 2008 |
The supplemental appropriations bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan got fast-tracked through the House yesterday in preparation...
Fencing in DHS Spending
June 12, 2008 |
Big week on Capitol Hill for the Department of Homeland Security. On Monday, Secretary Michael Chertoff touted his agency's achievements...
House Defense Authorization Earmarks Jump From Last Year
June 12, 2008 |
A bill recently passed by the House increases the number of Defense Authorization earmarks by more than 20% from last year, according to...
Utah Hardrock Mining Fact Sheet
June 11, 2008 |
Utah Mining Giveaways
Under the 135 year old Mining Law of 1872, valuable taxpayer lands and minerals are virtually given away to...
Database of Congressional Earmarks for FY2008
June 10, 2008 |
**First posted Feb. 14, 2008**
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) staff and interns have devoted thousands of hours to researching,...
Final Days of Don Young’s Way?
June 08, 2008 |
With board members jumping ship, the governor asking tough questions, and the cost estimate ballooning, the logical conclusion is that...
Ending the Earmark ATM: Despite Reforms, Earmarks Continue to Thrive
June 05, 2008 |
Congress disclosed 11,234 earmarks worth $14.8 billion in this year’s spending bills. An additional $3.5 billion worth of earmarks were...
Energy Campaign Overview
June 03, 2008 |
TCS fights to keep unnecessary subsidies, loopholes and tax breaks out of America's energy policy
For more than a decade, TCS has led the...
TCS Agriculture Program
June 01, 2008 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense works with a broad range of groups to enact significant farm policy reform. With the farm bill up for...
Transportation Committee Discloses New Earmarks
May 25, 2008 |
The earmark disclosure debutantes are making their way to the floor today in the technical correction bill for SAFETEA-LU (H.R....
What Is Government Waste?
May 25, 2008 |
1. If it doesn't work, don't fund it.
2. Eliminate redundant expenditures.
3. Stop helping those who don't need help.
4. Get a fair price...
Coal Subsidies: Energy Policy Act of 2005
May 25, 2008 |
The coal industry received more than $9 billion in loans, research funds, tax breaks and other subsidies in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. ...
$9.9 Billion in House Authorization Add-Ons
May 21, 2008 |
The 2009 defense authorization bill headed for the House floor this week has already raised a ruckus over earmarks, and there’s a lot to...
$5.2 Billion in Senate Authorization Additions
May 13, 2008 |
While the House Armed Services Committee marks up the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act, TCS staff is scouring the report just...
TCS Statement on House Passage of Farm Bill Conference Report
May 13, 2008 |
Written Statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the House passage of the farm bill conference report....
Oppose Farm Bill Conference Report
May 12, 2008 |
Dear Congressman,
We urge you to vote no on the farm bill conference report, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 that is...
TCS Letter to Congress: Oppose Farm Bill Conference Report
May 12, 2008 |
Dear Congressman,
We urge you to vote no on the farm bill conference report, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 that is...
Taxpayerand NTU Letter to the President: Veto the Farm Bill
May 06, 2008 |
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Congress...
Letter to the President: Veto the Farm Bill
May 06, 2008 |
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Congress appears...
TCS Letter to the Speaker: Make the Supplemental Spending Bill Transparent
May 06, 2008 |
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Madam Speaker:
Taxpayers for...
Oppose Harmful Amendments to S. 2284
May 06, 2008 |
May 7, 2008
Dear Senator:
The Senate is currently considering S. 2284, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2008. Taxpayers...
Letter to Congress: Minimize Farm Bill Harm
April 29, 2008 |
Support Congressmen Flake’s and Ryan’s Motions to Instruct Farm Bill Conferees
Dear Representative,
As the farm bill conference process...
Bipartisan Group of Senators Call for Taxpayer Protections in New Mining Law
April 22, 2008 |
Washington, D.C. – Today Senators Feingold (D-WI), Sununu (R-NH), Cantwell (D-WA), and Gregg (R-NH) led a bi-partisan push for the...
Senate Cuts Transportation Earmarks
April 06, 2008 |
The FY09 Senate appropriations bill providing money for transportation and Housing and Urban Development projects contains 609 earmarks...
Hardrock Mining Royalty ﾖ Fair to Taxpayers, Fair to Industry
March 15, 2008 |
Fair Compensation for Taxpayers
For more than 8 decades the coal, oil, and natural gas industries have all paid royalties for the right...
Institutionalizing JIEDDO
March 12, 2008 |
As November draws closer, an increasing number of overpriced defense programs are running for cover in the Defense Department budget,...
Earmarks Moratorium, Budget Resolution and Sen. Reid
March 10, 2008 |
Things on a earmark moratorium/reform are very fluid. We are hearing that Speaker Pelosi’s frustration with the earmark issue may end up...
Obey Throws Down the Gauntlet
March 05, 2008 |
In a letter where you can almost hear his frustration, Appropriations Chairman asked the members of the House to check off whether they...
Bush Administration Releases Proposal for Farm Bill Compromise
March 04, 2008 |
Below is a copy of the proposal reportedly put forth the by the Bush Administration over the weekend. It’s hard to say whether this is...
Boeingﾒs Tanker Tariffs
March 04, 2008 |
Boeing’s loss of the tanker aircraft contract to Northrop Grumman and EADS North America last week represents much more than the contract’s...
Errata to TCS FY08 Earmarks Database
February 29, 2008 |
February 29, 2008 -- After consultation with Sen. Obama’s staff, TCS determined that a $7,227,500 project should be added to the database...
Parameters of a Successful Farm Bill
February 29, 2008 |
The President’s response to House and Senate conference committee negotiators. The President proposed 13 potential offsets to pay for...
Letter to the President and Cogressional Leaders: Veto the Farm Bill
February 28, 2008 |
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Congress appears...
Congressional Letter to House Leaders on Farm Bill Reform
February 28, 2008 |
February 2008 letter to House Speaker and Minority leader, and Agriculture Committee chairman and ranking member. Letter is from 14...
Letter to President urging farm bill veto
February 28, 2008 |
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Congress appears...
Letter to Farm Bill Negotiators
February 28, 2008 |
February 2008 letter to House Speaker and Minority leader, and Agriculture Committee chairman and ranking member. This letter is from 14...
Taxpayers for Common Sense Releases New Earmark Database
February 14, 2008 |
Despite reform, new database finds that Congress hasn’t lost its appetite for pork
Washington, D.C. – Congress has cut earmarks by 23...
TCS FY08 Earmark Database Release
February 14, 2008 |
TCS has rolled out our FY08 earmarks database. Now you can peruse and search 11,234 Congressional earmarks worth $14.8 billion. But wait,...
Coalition Letter Welcoming New Agriculture Commissioner
February 06, 2008 |
The Honorable Edward Schafer
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC...
Farm Bill Coalition Letter to Ag Secretary
February 06, 2008 |
February 6, 2008
Shadowy Supplemental
February 05, 2008 |
6:05 p.m. -- Beyond invoking Congressional wrath by not requesting a year’s worth of emergency supplemental spending with the White House...
Senate Budget Committee Minority’s Observations
February 04, 2008 |
12:05 p.m. -- Here is a link to the (pdf | 1.16 MB).
One key complaint of Ranking Member Sen. Gregg (R-NH) is that the budget fails to...
The Coast Guard’s Troubled Deepwater Acquisition
February 04, 2008 |
11:30 a.m. -- A program to recapitalize a large portion of the agency’s ships, aircraft and communications -- got a more than 20% bump up...
$5.6 Billion in Emergency CORPS Funds for Katrina
February 04, 2008 |
Feb. 4, 10:30 a.m. -- In their final budget, the Bush Administration keeps up the pressure on the Corps of Engineers, providing the agency...
Digging the Hole Deeper
February 04, 2008 |
6:50 p.m. -- The budget predicts a deficit of $407 billion in FY09 (and a FY08 deficit of $410 billion), a figure that just squeaks under...
Bush Administration’s 2009 Budget Talking Points
February 04, 2008 |
10:50 a.m. -- These talking points were just emailed to us. Wanted to make sure that you had a chance to see them....
President Supports Controversial Loan Guarantee Program
February 04, 2008 |
The administration’s 2009 budget for the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program requests $38.5 billion in loan guarantee...
Border Security Under Scrutiny
February 04, 2008 |
SBInet, the DHS program tasked with providing the fence’s technological elements such as cameras and sensors, received $775 million. Though...
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership/Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative
February 04, 2008 |
Feb. 4, 4:50 p.m. -- The administration is proposing $123 million more than Congress enacted in FY2008 for the Global Nuclear Energy...
Administration Proposes $2 Billion Cut in Road Spending
February 04, 2008 |
Feb. 4, 12:25 p.m. -- In what seems to be a budget rite of passage, the administration has proposed billions of cuts to Congress’ pet...
FY 2009 Budget Historic Tables
February 01, 2008 |
Summary: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009 contains the Budget Message of the President, information on the...
Golden Fleece Award
January 31, 2008 |
From surfing subsidies to the Great Wall of Bedford, Indiana, Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire’s Golden Fleece Award protected...
Testimony before Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Reform of 1872 Mining Law
January 24, 2008 |
Good morning Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Domenici, members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you...
Earmark Reductions
December 18, 2007 |
We’ve heard a lot today about how much the Democrats have cut earmarks over previous year levels. First off, we want to congratulate them...
Disclosure Double-Talk
December 17, 2007 |
Lawmakers are not generally shy about taking credit for the presents they bring home to their districts at the end of the year. That’s...
D-Day for Omnibus
December 17, 2007 |
In the wee hours this morning, the omnibus emerged from the bowels of the Capitol to be posted on the House Rules site:
Speed readers...
Omnibus Spending Bill Stuffed with Earmarks
December 17, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the Omnibus...
Omnibus Creeps Forward and Cost of Earmarks
December 13, 2007 |
During this afternoon’s always entertaining colloquy between House Majority Leader Hoyer and Minority Whip Blunt on the House schedule,...
As the Omnibus Turns
December 12, 2007 |
While House Appropriations Cardinals are supposedly shaking the spending trees to find programs to cut from the end-of-the-year...
Omnibust ﾖ What We Know
December 11, 2007 |
What I'm hearing is that no one really knows what the next step is for Congressional Democrats to close the door on the FY08 spending...
Nuclear Subsidies General Fact Sheet
December 10, 2007 |
Since the beginning of nuclear energy the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the industry. Nuclear power has received...
SAME DAY SERVICE ON THE OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL
December 10, 2007 |
Here’s one possible scenario: The Omnibus spending bill appears tomorrow, runs through a revolving door at the Rules committee, and makes a...
A Look at the New New Orleans
December 07, 2007 |
posted by Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 ext. 126
TCS Vice-President, Steve Ellis, just got back from touring the Lower Ninth ward in New...
Finding War Funding
December 07, 2007 |
The specter of war supplementals hovered over the Capitol this week, given weight by threats from Defense Secretary Robert Gates that...
Maintain Congressional Oversight and Stringent Budget Cap on DOE Loan Guarantee Program
December 06, 2007 |
Dear Representative,
On behalf of our combined memberships, we urge you to support stringent budget caps on the Department of Energy...
Failure to Hold Water
December 01, 2007 |
In 1997, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published the results of its economic evaluation of a proposed lock to replace the existing lock...
THUD Earmarks: Budget Battle Lines Drawn
November 30, 2007 |
TCS’s database of earmarks in the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill have landed with a THUD on our web...
Congress and the Contractors
November 20, 2007 |
While databasing the earmarks that made it into the 2008 defense appropriations bill signed by President Bush last weekwe discovered that,...
House-Senate-Conference Earmarks for Labor-H Up
November 15, 2007 |
Now Congress is into full appropriations swing – that is until they take off for Thanksgiving. For your viewing pleasure...
Examples of Federal Government Loan Guarantee Failures
November 07, 2007 |
Increasing reliance has been placed on federal government-backed private loan guarantees as a vehicle to fund private business enterprise....
President Vetoes $23 Billion Water Projects Bill
November 01, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the President...
Veto ﾖ Channeling Ike on WRDA
November 01, 2007 |
It’s a Friday afternoon, but I thought you might be interested in another veto statement from a few years back. The WRDA bill was called...
Funding a Sinking Ship?
November 01, 2007 |
While members of Congress hashed out the conference agreement on the Fiscal Year 2008 defense appropriations bill, the Navy was apparently...
Oppose Blank Check Loan Guarantees in Final Energy Bill
October 30, 2007 |
Dear Senator,
We urge you to oppose the inclusion of language in the final energy bill exempting the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan...
Earmarks Benefiting ProLogic, Inc. and BAE Systems
October 30, 2007 |
Dear Representatives Obey and Lewis, and Senators Byrd and Cochran:
As two organizations which have been critical of earmark abuses, we...
Support H.R. 2262 and Reform of General Mining Law of 1872
October 25, 2007 |
End a 135 Year Old Taxpayer Giveaway
Support the Reform of the General Mining Law of 1872
Vote “YES” on H.R. 2262
Dear...
The Snowballing Supplemental
October 25, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. (October 26, 2007) - Since President Bush released his latest addition to the burgeoning FY2008 war supplemental on...
Justifying the Supplemental
October 23, 2007 |
The documents released this week by the White House and Department of Defense explaining how they will spend the new $42.3 billion addition...
TCS Action Supports Farm Reform Legislation Offered in Senate
October 22, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action)...
TCS Applauds Amendment Securing Royalty Reforms in Mining Legislation
October 17, 2007 |
TCS Applauds Hinchey Amendment Securing Royalty Reforms in Mining Legislation
Washington, DC -- The following is a written statement by Ms....
Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance: 2007 Farm Bill Issues (CRS Report for Congress)
October 14, 2007 |
The federal government has relied primarily on two policy tools in recent years to help mitigate the financial losses experienced by crop...
TCS Statement On Partnership in Senate Farm Bill Campaign
October 09, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), on TCS’s...
Oppose Waste in Space Stop Funding for the Space Test Bed in FY 2008
October 02, 2007 |
Dear Senator,
Taxpayers for Common Sense urges you to reject an amendment to the FY09 Defense Appropriations bill proposed by Sens. Kyl,...
FRESH Act Fact Sheet
September 30, 2007 |
The FRESH act introduced by Senators Lugar and Lautenberg, and co-sponsored by Senators Cardin, Menendez, Reed, Hatch, Collins and...
TCS Requests Ethics Investigation of Coconut Road Earmark
September 25, 2007 |
The Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Chairwoman
The Honorable Doc Hastings, Ranking Member
House Committee on Standards of Official...
Senate Guts Earmark Transparency Rules
September 24, 2007 |
TCS has just discovered that Senate leadership gutted earmark transparency rules that had initially passed the Senate 98-0.
S. 1, the...
Water Project Waste: Oppose Water Resources Development Act of 2007
September 23, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
We write in strong opposition to the final conference version of H.R. 1495, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of...
Support Webb-McCaskill Wartime Contract Commission Amendment to FY08 Defense Authorization
September 20, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) urges you to support Sens. James Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill’s (D-MO) Wartime Contract...
New Mexico Hardrock Mining Fact Sheet
September 18, 2007 |
Mine Companies Enchanted by New Mexico Giveaways
Under the 135 year old Mining Law of 1872, valuable taxpayer lands and minerals are...
Oppose Amendments to Defense Authorization Bill Allowing Long-Term Coal-to-Liquid Contracts
September 18, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) Action urges you to oppose amendments to the Defense Authorization Bill (H.R.1585) that...
Hardrock Mines on Federal Lands Provide No Return to Taxpayers
September 11, 2007 |
Overview
Under the General Mining Law of 1872, mining companies pay no royalties to the federal government for hardrock minerals extracted...
H.R. 2262 Fact Sheet
September 11, 2007 |
H.R. 2262 Provides Overdue Mining Reforms
Mining Industry Struck Gold with Century-Old Giveaways
One hundred and thirty-five years ago,...
Rep. Don Young’s Coconut Rd. Earmark Rejected
August 16, 2007 |
You may have heard about the $10 million earmark for a Florida highway interchange that Rep. Don Young (R-AK) included the 2005 highway...
TCS Releases list of earmarks in FY 08 Senate Financial Services Appropriations Bill
August 05, 2007 |
Request a complete list of Senate Financial Services Earmarks
(mailto: info@taxpaye.net)
Final Week Flurry ﾖ Defense & AG Earmarks and More
August 02, 2007 |
For your summer reading pleasure we have posted all the earmarks in the House FY08 Defense and Agriculture spending bills. And I can assure...
Oppose Proposals to Include Coal-to Liquids Subsidies in the House Energy Bill
August 02, 2007 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to oppose any measures adding mandates, loan guarantees or other...
Senate Already Watering Down Earmark Disclosure Rules
July 30, 2007 |
Congress is racing the clock to pass earmark and ethics reform before they skip town for a month long vacation. For a bill that’s supposed...
Ask Senator Stevens to Give Up Committee Assignments
July 30, 2007 |
Dear Leader McConnell:
I'm writing to request that you ask Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) to temporarily recuse himself from his committee...
House Passes “Carbon Copy” Farm Bill
July 26, 2007 |
For Immediate Release
July 27, 2007
Contact:...
Written Testimony of Steve Ellis before Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee House Committee on Natural Resources Hearing on H.R. 2262
July 25, 2007 |
Good morning Chairman Costa, Ranking Member Pearce, members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify this morning on H.R....
Oral Testimony of Steve Ellis before Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee House Committee on Natural Resources Hearing on H.R. 2262
July 25, 2007 |
Good morning Chairman Costa, Ranking Member Pearce, members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify this morning on H.R....
Letter to the House: Support Doggett Amendment to the Farm Bill
July 24, 2007 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) urges you to support Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s (D-TX) amendment to strike a...
Commerce of Earmarks ﾖ CJS Spending Bill
July 24, 2007 |
To help you follow the CJS debate, TCS has released our database (MORE THAN 1100 EARMARKS IN HOUSE COMMERCE-JUSTICE-SCIENCE SPENDING BILL)...
Support Doggett Amendment to Strip Tobacco Subsidies from the Farm Bill
July 24, 2007 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) urges you to support Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s (D-TX) amendment to strike a...
House Transportation Spending Bill: The Road to Political Pork
July 24, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. - The House FY08 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill contains more...
Paving the Way for Pork ﾖ THUD Earmarks
July 23, 2007 |
TCS has plowed through the more than 1,400 earmarks worth nearly $2.2 billion in the aptly named THUD spending bill. Congress contributed...
1,300 Earmarks in Labor/HHS
July 18, 2007 |
Here’s one reason why Rep. Obey’s amendment to eliminate all the earmarks in the Labor/HHS bill failed last night. Actually here are 1,342...
Senate Makes House E&W Earmarks Shopping Frenzy Look Tame
July 17, 2007 |
So the House Energy and Water spending bill approved yesterday included 1,010 earmarks worth $3.2 billion. We think that’s a lot, but then...
Earmarks Aplenty in Senate Energy & Water Appropriations Bill
July 11, 2007 |
So 1,759 earmarks and $3.8 billion later we finished our database of the Senate Energy & Water Appropriations bill. It's a doozy. Twenty...
ﾑBama Wins Senate CJS Approps Sweepstakes
July 09, 2007 |
TCS has completed our analysis and database of the Senate CJS appropriations bill.
Even in the minority, Sen. Shelby (R-AL) knows how to...
Senate Interior Appropriations earmarks to Start Your 4th With a Bang
July 02, 2007 |
Just so you don't think recess means relaxation for TCS, we've just released our findings and database on the FY08 Senate Interior Approps...
House FY08 Financial Services Analysis and Database and Additional Senate FY08 Defense Analysis and Database
June 27, 2007 |
The TCS analysis and database of the House FY08 Financial Services bill (TCS ANALYSIS OF FY08 HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES APPROPRIATIONS BILL)...
Support Amendments to Rein in Financial Services Appropriationsﾒ Earmarks
June 27, 2007 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support amendments from Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and others to...
Senate Homeland Security and More on House Appropriations
June 26, 2007 |
I wanted to alert you that TCS has released our analysis and database of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations (TCS ANALYSIS OF FY08...
Donﾒt Fund Unnecessary Nukes Oppose Funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead in FY 2008
June 26, 2007 |
The Honorable Byron Dorgan
Chairman
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Capitol, S-131
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman...
House Interior Appropriations Initiation Analysis and Database
June 21, 2007 |
For your weekend reading pleasure, please find the link below to TCS's initial analysis of the House FY08 Interior Appropriations bill....
End Unnecessary Handouts to Big Oil
June 20, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
We are writing to urge you to vote for the Wyden-Sununu Amendment to the energy bill currently being debated by the Senate....
House Leg Branch & State/Foreign Ops
June 20, 2007 |
Hmmm. What do the FY08 Legislative Branch (TCS Analysis of House Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill) and FY08 State and Foreign...
Itﾒs Time to Change Outdated Mining Law
June 18, 2007 |
Dear Representative,
The law that governs precious metal mining on federal land is 135 years old and it is time for it to be updated. Rep....
TCS Releases Analysis of Senate MilCon Earmarks
June 18, 2007 |
As promised TCS is churning through the appropriations bills. We've just completed our
analysis of the Senate MilCon/VA appropriations...
Reform Financial Disclosure Rules for Congress
June 13, 2007 |
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader Boehner, Minority Leader McConnell:
As you have probably read this week,...
Stop Taxypayer-Funded Subsidies for Tongass Logging Roads: Support Andrews/Chabot Amendment
June 12, 2007 |
Dear Member of Congress:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) urges you to support Representative Robert Andrews’ (D-NJ) and...
Tentative Deal to Put Earmarks Back in House Spending Bills
June 12, 2007 |
An AP story (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-13-congress-spending_N.htm) seems to indicate there has been a step back from...
Kind-Flake Legislation Brings the Farm Bill into the 21stCentury
June 12, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the introduction...
Appropriations Underway
June 11, 2007 |
The House has taken up the rule governing the debate on the
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill
, (TCS ANALYSIS OF THE...
TCS Analysis of the House FY2008 Homeland Security Bill
June 10, 2007 |
For Immediate Release
June 11, 2007
Contact: Steve Ellis
202-546-8500 x126
TCS ANALYSIS OF THE HOUSE FY2008 DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND...
50 Defense Earmarks Not Disclosed by House Defense Committe
June 07, 2007 |
Posted by Laura Peterson, June 8, 2007
Additional Information...
Earmark Protection Program
June 05, 2007 |
Okay, I have to admit that I thought that Chairman Obey's bluster about not including earmarks was going fall by the wayside during the...
Take a Bite Out of Oil and Gas Giveaways
June 04, 2007 |
Dear Natural Resources Committee Member:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to oppose amendments to weaken key provisions in...
50 Defense Earmarks Not Disclosed by House Defense Committe
June 01, 2007 |
When the House of Representatives passed new rules just a few days into the new Congress requiring lawmakers to disclose the earmarks...
OMB Tracking FY08 Earmarks
May 30, 2007 |
OMB Director Portman sent a memo to Heads of Departments and Agencies today. He is directing them to track earmarks in the FY08 spending...
House Armed Services Committee Releases Defense Authorization Earmarks
May 22, 2007 |
posted by Laura Peterson, May 23, 2007
With little fanfare, defense earmarks made their public debut in the House Armed Services Committee...
House Planning to Hide Earmarks From the Public
May 22, 2007 |
Both CongressDaily and Roll Call (Steven Dennis' article from today pasted in at bottom) have reported that House Appropriations Chairman...
Murtha Track Record on Earmark Pressure: ‘If You Vote Against This Bill, You Wonﾒt Have Any Input at All the Next Time’
May 20, 2007 |
Rep. Rogers (R-MI) is bringing a privileged resolution to the floor to reprimand Rep. Murtha (D-PA) for threatening to eliminate any...
WRDA Earmarks Aplenty
May 14, 2007 |
We have completed compiling all the WRDA earmarks - all 438 of them - and their sponsors into a database. The Water Resources Development...
Stop Taxypayer-Funded Subsidies for Tongass Logging Roads
May 13, 2007 |
Dear Blue Dog Caucus Member:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) commends you and the Blue Dog Caucus for drawing attention to...
Oppose Efforts to Increase Dairy Price Support Program
May 13, 2007 |
Dear Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte:
During reauthorization of the 2007 Farm Bill, we strongly urge you to...
Letter to Blue Dogs: Stop Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies for Tongass Logging Roads
May 13, 2007 |
May 14, 2007
Dear Blue Dog Caucus Member:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) commends you and the Blue Dog Caucus for drawing...
Water Project Waste
May 08, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the nearly one million members of our organizations, we write in strong opposition to the Senate version of the...
Testimony - Federal Crop Insurance Program
May 02, 2007 |
Testimony of Steve Ellis, Vice President, Taxpayers for Common Sense before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's hearing on...
See How the Spending Bills Stack Up
April 25, 2007 |
Congress beat us. Less than 43 hours after the Conference Report filed the House and Senate sent $124.2B in "emergency" spending to the...
Support Deepwater Reform
April 24, 2007 |
Dear Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee:
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) urges you to reform the Coast...
Supplemental on House Floor
April 24, 2007 |
The House started debating the Rule governing consideration at 6:10, that means if all follows form they Supplemental itself will be on the...
Senate Appropriations Earmark Transparency Announcement
April 16, 2007 |
Senate Appropriations Chairman Byrd (D-WV) announced earlier today that the Appropriations Committee will be disclosing earmarks beginning...
OMB FY05 Earmark Database Live
April 03, 2007 |
Today, OMB updated their new online earmark database. If you recall, OMB's database went live a few weeks ago with incomplete data and...
U.S. Farm Policy: Blank Check Politics
March 31, 2007 |
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues outdated, depression-era farm subsidy policies that funnel billions of dollars to...
TCS Statement on Senate Passage of Emergency Spending Bill
March 28, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on Senate passage of...
Support Amendments to Strike Non-Emergency Spending from the So-Called Emergency Spending Bill
March 27, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) Action urges you to support amendments to cut, or at least offset, non-emergency spending...
Oral Testimony Royalties at Risk Hearing before House Natural Resources Committee
March 27, 2007 |
Good morning Chairman Rahall and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is...
Written Testimony Royalties at Risk Hearing before House Natural Resources Committee
March 27, 2007 |
Good morning Chairman Rahall and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Ryan Alexander...
Support Flake Amendments to Strike Wasteful Programs from H.R. 1401
March 26, 2007 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support Representative Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) amendments to cut wasteful...
Taxpayers for Common Sense Statement on House Passage of Emergency Spending Bill
March 22, 2007 |
Today, the House passed an emergency spending bill that weighed in $21 billion heavier than President’s $103 billion proposal. House...
When an Earmark Isnﾒt an Earmark
March 22, 2007 |
Lawmakers have already exploited a loophole in the new transparency rules that appear to allow 'immaculate conception' earmarks.
Let me...
Supplemental Up On House Floor; Approved by Senate Appropriations
March 21, 2007 |
The House has begun debate on the Supplemental. The rule provides for no amendments and four hours of debate equally divided between...
Taxpayers for Common Sense Statement on the Emergency Spending Bill
March 20, 2007 |
At $20 billion more than the President’s proposal, Congress’s $124 billion emergency spending bill is giving taxpayers an acute case of...
Emergencies and Earmarks - Supplemental
March 20, 2007 |
I'm hearing that the Senate supplemental is weighing in at $121B, slightly slimmer than the House's $124B, although the Ag Emergency...
Cosponsor the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act
March 12, 2007 |
Dear Member of Congress:
Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan, budget watchdog group, urges you to co-sponsor the National Forest...
Earmark Rumblings
March 11, 2007 |
Today was to be the day of earmark reckoning. At 3 PM, the Office of Management and Budget was supposed to post on the internet a database...
Stop Costly Waste, Fraud and Abuse: Support the 2007 Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act
March 07, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) applauds Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Susan...
Letter to Budget Committees: Farm Subsidy Reform Begins with the Budget
March 06, 2007 |
Dear Budget Committee Member:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a nonpartisan, budget watchdog group, urges you to oppose...
Farm Subsidy Reform Begins with the Budget
March 06, 2007 |
Dear Budget Committee Member:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a nonpartisan, budget watchdog group, urges you to oppose any...
TCS FY07 Defense Earmarks Database Available
February 28, 2007 |
The results are in! Taxpayers for Common Sense analysis of the FY07 Defense spending bill found 2,646 earmarks worth $10.5B. This compares...
Sen. Thune Earmark and DM&E Rail Loan - Rejected
February 26, 2007 |
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration rejected the Dakota, Mining & Eastern (DM&E) loan application.
Why does TCS care? For two main...
FY07 Earmark Instructions to Agencies
February 15, 2007 |
OMB just sent out a memo to Department Heads and Federal Agencies directing them how to deal with the FY07 spending bill (which the...
FY07 Spending Bill
February 14, 2007 |
Four and half months into the fiscal year, 2007 appropriations are finally done. What a mess. The Republicans left a mess by not getting...
Omnibus: 48 Hrs. to Read the Bill ﾖ HA! Earmark Disclosure ﾖ Double HA!!
February 10, 2007 |
Here’s the likely scenario: The Omnibus spending bill appears tomorrow, runs through a revolving door at the Rules committee and makes a...
Presidentﾒs SAP on FY07 Omnibus
February 08, 2007 |
The President’s Statement of Administration Policy on the FY07 spending bill is out.
I am heartened by the Administration's comment:
“The...
Bold Reform Needed in 2007 Farm Bill
February 08, 2007 |
Dear Member of Congress:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action, a nonpartisan, budget watchdog-group, urges you to support efforts to improve...
2007 Administration Outline of Farm Bill
February 01, 2007 |
Summary: 2007 Administration Outline of Farm Bill
Spending Bill Machinations
January 31, 2007 |
Good theater on the House floor today (if you're a geek like me). Before getting to the substance, I thought I would comment on a nearly...
Continuing Resolution 101
January 30, 2007 |
The House Rules Committee is supposed to consider the FY07 Continuing Resolution (CR) today at 3 PM.
CR 101: For the last several years,...
Continuing Resolution Rumors
January 26, 2007 |
The long-term continuing resolution for FY07 appropriations is supposed to be considered by the House on Wednesday. It should come out on...
Support Cloture on Gregg ‘A Second Look At Wasteful Spending’ Amendment
January 23, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support cloture on Sen. Judd Gregg’s (R-NH) amendment, “A Second Look at...
As the Line Item Veto Turns
January 22, 2007 |
So, Sen. Gregg's line item veto (enhanced recission) amendment is back up on the floor of the Senate. It wasn't "germane" to the...
Line Item Veto ﾖ Enhanced Recission Authority Fight & Black Budget Earmarks
January 17, 2007 |
Right now, the Senate is bogging down on Sen. Gregg's "Second Look at Wasteful Spending" amendment. That's a pretty good name for what...
Earmark Transparency One Step Closer
January 16, 2007 |
Tonight, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the ethics bill to bring earmarks out of the shadowy corridors of the capitol and...
Approve DeMint Amendment to Improve Earmark Disclosure and Transparency
January 12, 2007 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) Action, a non-partisan budget watchdog, strongly urges your support of Senator Jim DeMint’s...
Little More on Earmark Reforms
January 03, 2007 |
So, I keep looking for potential loopholes in the rule. One question that comes up in my head is the rule's definition of earmark where it...
Taxpayers Demand ‘Leave No Earmark Behind’ Reforms
January 02, 2007 |
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Harry Reid
U.S. House of Representatives...
Ten Common Sense Reforms for the Army Corps of Engineers
January 01, 2007 |
AMERICAN RIVERS · EARTHJUSTICE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND · ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE · FRIENDS OF THE EARTH ·
MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN ALLIANCE ·...
Analysis HR6 - Energy Policy Act of 2003
December 01, 2006 |
The current 768 page, 5 inch thick energy legislation is fueled by pork and will do very little to
reduce energy prices or increase...
No Congressional Pensions for Felons
November 28, 2006 |
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid:
On behalf of the millions of taxpayers represented by the groups listed below, we urge you to make...
TCS Statement on Final Passage of FY07 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill
September 28, 2006 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement from Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the Defense...
Stop the $6.5 Billion Farm Subsidy Handout
September 25, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan budget watchdog, strongly urges you NOT to...
Time to Learn the Hard Lessons from Hurricane Katrina: Support Real Fiscal Reforms in Water Resources Development Act
September 20, 2006 |
Dear Member of Congress:
Give Taxpayers the Tools to Track the Federal Spending
September 07, 2006 |
Dear Member of Congress:
Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) Action, a non-profit budget watchdog, applauds the Senate passage of S....
Protect Federal Taxpayers from Billions in Lost Revenue from the Oil and Gas Industry
July 23, 2006 |
Dear Senator,
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan budget watchdog organization, urges you to oppose S....
Donﾒt Fall for False Advertising: Support Real Fiscal Reform in Water Resources Development Act
June 28, 2006 |
Dear Senator:
WRDA 2007 Senate Letter
June 28, 2006 |
Dear Senator:
For many years, our organizations have examined the standard operating practices of the Corps of Engineers and working to...
An Open Letter to the United States House of Representatives: Support Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act
June 26, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
We urge you to support H.R. 4973, the “Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2006.” Our organizations...
Protect Federal Taxpayers from Billions in Lost Revenue from the Oil and Gas Industry: Oppose the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act
June 25, 2006 |
Dear Representative,
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan budget watchdog organization, urges you to oppose H.R....
Forest Service Flunks Fiscal Audit
June 22, 2006 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Franz Matzner, Senior Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the...
Support funding cuts for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
June 21, 2006 |
The U.S. Senate
Support H.R. 4890, Legislative Line Item Veto Act
June 20, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
1872 Mining Law Patenting Fact Sheet
June 11, 2006 |
The Claim-Patent System: Fueling a 135-Year Heist of Public Lands
The claim-patent system serves as the basis for hardrock mineral...
Stop Costly Waste, Fraud and Abuse: Support Grassely/Coleman Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act
June 07, 2006 |
Dear Senator: Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) applauds Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)...
Cut Subsidies for Big Oil: Support the Sanders-Hinchey Amendment to H.R. 5522, the FY 2007 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill
June 07, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the Green Scissors campaign, a coalition of environmental, taxpayer and consumer groups, we urge you...
Cut Wasteful Spending in Emergency Supplemental Bill: Stop the $4 Billion Farm Subsidy Handout
June 04, 2006 |
Dear Speaker Hastert and Leader Pelosi:
Earlier this month several Members of Congress sent you a letter supporting the inclusion of...
Support the Blumenauer-Flake Amendment to Reduce Sugar Subsidies and the Chabot-Brown Amendment to Cut the Market Access Program
May 25, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we urge you to support the following twoamendments to the Agriculture...
Support Amendments to Reign in Agriculture Appropriations’ Earmarks
May 22, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support amendments from Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and...
Testimony Before Democratic Policy Committee Oversight Hearing on Post-Katrina Reconstruction
May 18, 2006 |
TCS applauds you for looking more closely at certain contracting mishaps in the wake of Katrina, both because of the sizable federal...
Preserve Language to End Royalty Relief for Oil and Gas Industry in Interior Appropriations Bill
May 15, 2006 |
Dear Representative,
Taxpayers for Common Sense urges you to support language added to the House Interior Appropriations Bill by...
An Open Letter to the United States House of Representatives: Vote ‘Yes’ on the Chabot Amendment to End Tongass Logging Subsidies
May 14, 2006 |
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we strongly urge you to support Representative Steve Chabot’s...
‘Relief’ for Oil and Gas A Fiscal Headache for Taxpayers
May 09, 2006 |
“Now, we don’t think oil companies need tax incentives or subsidies to drill for oil at $70 a barrel, or for that matter at $25.” Wall...
Oppose H.R. 4200 Emergency Recovery and Research Act: Accelerating Timber Salvage Sales Will Put Taxpayers on the Express Lane to Further Losses
April 30, 2006 |
May 1, 2006
Oil and Gas Royalty Relief Fact Sheet
April 27, 2006 |
“Relief” for Oil and Gas
A Fiscal Headache for Taxpayers
“Now, we don’t think oil companies need tax incentives or subsidies to drill...
Cloture Stymies Real Lobby Reform
March 29, 2006 |
Dear Senator:
500 Alaska Fisherman Endorse Removal of Four Dams
March 06, 2006 |
Contact: Kathleen McNeilly (202) 546-8500 x128 or Eric Jordan 907-747-6743
WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 500 Alaska fishermen have...
Grazing on Federal Lands
February 01, 2006 |
Federal grazing programs managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) cost taxpayers more than $100...
Taxpayer Coalition Letter to Sen. Richard Shelby: Federal Flood Insurance Program Needs Reform
January 24, 2006 |
The Honorable Richard Shelby
North Shore Road
January 12, 2006 |
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Swain County), North Carolina
Projected Cost to Federal Taxpayers: $604...
TCS Statement on the Death of Senator William Proxmire
December 15, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement from Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the death of...
Oppose Farm Bill Extension in Budget Reconciliation
December 14, 2005 |
Letter to chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Budget Committees urging them not to include a farm bill extension in the...
TCS Applauds the Elimination of the Alaska Bridges to Nowhere
November 16, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement from Jill Lancelot, President...
TCS Statement on Senate Farm Subsidy Vote
November 03, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the Senate refusal to...
Support Grassley-Dorgan Subsidy Reform Amendment
November 02, 2005 |
Dear Senator:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) strongly urges support of the Grassley- Dorgan Farm Program Reform amendment...
Oppose Budget Reconciliationﾒs Public Land Giveaways
November 02, 2005 |
Dear Budget Committee Member, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan budget watchdog, urges you to strip Subtitle...
Oppose OCS, Shale Provisions in Budget Reconciliation; Support the Udall Amendment to Strike Public Land Giveaways
October 24, 2005 |
Dear Resources Committee Member, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action, a national non-partisan budget watchdog, is concerned with several...
An Open Letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee: Support Subsidy Reform
October 05, 2005 |
Dear Senator:
The undersigned organizations have long advocated reform of our crop subsidy system. Now, with added federal expenditures...
Oppose Energy Bill II-Gasoline for Americaﾒs Security Act
October 04, 2005 |
Oppose the $5 Billion "Energy Bill II"
The ink has hardly dried on the bloated federal energy bill (Energy Policy Act of 2005), and yet...
TCS Has Grave Concerns Regarding the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005
September 27, 2005 |
Dear Representative:
TCS Praises RSC’s Operation Offset
September 20, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice...
TCS Statement on Presidential Address on Katrina Aid Package
September 14, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis,...
Top Ten Worst 2005 Energy Bill
September 03, 2005 |
The 10 worst provisions of the 2005 Energy Bill. To read the fact sheet, click here.
New Report Addresses Water Infrastructure Deterioration in Pennsylvania;
August 15, 2005 |
Washington, DC - A new report by Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) finds that Pennsylvania and the nation are facing hundreds of billions of...
TCS Statement on the Signing of the Transportation Bill
August 10, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on George W. Bush...
Administration Veto Slump Continues
August 07, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the President signing...
August 2005 Westlands Renewal Letter
August 04, 2005 |
Mr. Richard Stevenson
Bureau of Reclamation
2800 Cottage Way, MP-440
Sacramento CA 95825
Dear Mr. Stevenson,
Taxpayers for Common Sense,...
August 2005 San Luis Drain Letter
August 03, 2005 |
Ms. Claire Jacquemin
Bureau of Reclamation
2800 Cottage Way, MP-700
Sacramento, CA 95825
August 4, 2005
Dear Ms. Jacquemin,
On behalf of...
Banking on the Future
July 31, 2005 |
Investing in Smart Water Strategies for Pennsylvania and the Nation...
Give Taxpayers a Break!
July 25, 2005 |
Dear Energy Bill Conferee, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action, a non-partisan budget watchdog group, urges you to omit the Senate-passed...
Thank You for Keeping Uranium Subsidies Out of the Energy Bill
July 20, 2005 |
Dear Energy Bill Conferee,
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action, a non-partisan budget watchdog group, thanks you for keeping the $30...
TCS Statement on Passage of the Water Resources Development Act
July 13, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice-President of Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a...
Banking on the Future: Investing in Smart Water Strategies
June 30, 2005 |
The United States maintains the most advanced water system in the world, but faces major funding challenges over the next twenty years to...
Senate Passes Energy and Water Appropriations Bill
June 30, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement from Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the...
Senate Opportunity Lost: Senators Opt Not to Chop Timber Subsidies in the Tongass
June 28, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement from Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense:
The U.S. Senate...
TCS Commissioned Report—Billions Spent to Deter Marijuana Use, But Program Effectiveness Remains Unknown
June 27, 2005 |
Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance in the United States, and study after study shows that despite spending billions of...
Oppose Subsidizing Chinese Nuclear Plants with U.S. Tax Dollars
June 27, 2005 |
Dear Representative:
We urge you to support the Sanders-Rohrabacher-Tim Ryan-Paul-Kucinich amendment to H.R. 3057, the FY 2006 Foreign...
Billions Spent to Stop Pot Smoking, But Program Effectiveness Remains Unknown
June 27, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - Despite the federal government spending nearly $4 billion to combat marijuana use last year and tens of billions over...
Oppose the Domenici/Landrieu Amendment to Rip Off Rest of Country for Few States
June 22, 2005 |
Dear Senator,
We urge you to oppose the amendment by Senators Pete Domenici, Mary Landrieu, and others to divert $1 billion in federal...
Rip-Off in Big Cypress: How the Department of the Interior attempted to orchestrate one of the worst land deals in history
June 20, 2005 |
By: John Nohlgren
On May, 29th 2002, President George W. Bush and his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, together announced the...
Veto the Transportation Bill
June 16, 2005 |
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the millions of members represented by our respective organizations, we ask that you hold steadfast to...
Oppose the Energy Bill Boondoggle
June 09, 2005 |
Dear Senator:
On behalf of our members, the undersigned groups urge you to oppose the Energy Policy Act of 2005. We strongly believe...
TCS Statement on Inspector General Tanker Report
June 06, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the IG...
Louisville’s Eastern Bridge Project is a Taxpayer Waste
June 03, 2005 |
Remarks by Erich W. Zimmermann, Policy Analyst
Delivered at River Valley Club, Louisville, Kentucky
June 3, 2005
Good afternoon, my...
Nuclear Subsidies in 2005 Energy Bill
May 24, 2005 |
Energy Bill
December 2007
For more than a half century the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the nuclear power...
Oppose the ‘Powered by Pork’ Energy Policy Act of 2005
May 19, 2005 |
Dear Representative,
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan budget watchdog group, strongly opposes H.R. 6, the...
TCS Statement on the Derailment of the Tongass Forest Subsidy Amendment
May 18, 2005 |
Highway Bill Breaks the Bank
May 16, 2005 |
The following is a written statement by Erich Zimmermann, Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on Senate passage of the...
Demonstrate Your Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility: Oppose H.R. 6
May 12, 2005 |
May 13, 2005
Donﾒt put Homeland Security in the Hands of Lobbyists: Continue the Moratorium on DHS Earmarking
May 09, 2005 |
May 10, 2005
Lawmakers Axing Roadless Rule Costs Taxpayers
May 04, 2005 |
Still Fighting the Cold War: No Mission for Nuclear Bunker Busters in the 21st Century
May 04, 2005 |
Convinced that we require a broader range of nuclear options to ensure a credible deterrence threat, the National Nuclear Security...
The Modern Pit Facility: A $4 Billion Boondoggle Being Sold on Alarmist Rhetoric and Dated Data
May 01, 2005 |
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is currently designing a $2-4 billion Modern Pit Facility (MPF)i that will cost...
Stop Uranium Subsidies from Fouling Up the Energy Bill Support the Udall Amendment
April 19, 2005 |
Dear Representative:
We urge you to support Representative Tom Udall’s amendment to strike Section 631 from H.R. 6, the Energy Policy...
House Passes Energy Bill
April 19, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on final passage of H.R....
TCS Statement on the Energy Bill
April 19, 2005 |
Washington, D.C - The following is a prepared statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense on H.R....
Stop Oil and Gas Royalty Holiday in the Gulf of Mexico; Support the Grijalva Amendment to Strike Section 2005
April 18, 2005 |
Dear Representative,
We urge you to support the Grijalva amendment to strike Section 2005 from H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2005,...
Letter to Congress: Support Senator Dorganﾒs Amendment to Authorize a Special Commission on War and Reconstruction Contracting
April 17, 2005 |
Dear Senator:
Support Senator Dorganﾒs Amendment to Authorize a Special Commission on Way and Reconstruction Contracting
April 17, 2005 |
Dear Representative:
On behalf of our members, the undersigned groups urge you to oppose the Energy Policy Act of 2005. We strongly...
Oppose Amendment to Prevent Cancellation of C-130J
April 17, 2005 |
Dear Senator: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we urge you to oppose Senator Saxby Chambliss’s (R-GA) amendment to the Emergency...
Stop MTBE Producers from Passing the Buck: Support the Capps Amendment to Strike MTBE Transition Assistance and Safe Harbor
April 12, 2005 |
Dear Representative,
We urge you to support the amendments by Representative Capps to strike “safe harbor” and transition assistance for...
TCS Statement on Emergency Supplemental Bill
April 12, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the...
End the 25-Year-Old Synfuels Scam: Support the Doggett Amendment
April 11, 2005 |
Dear Representative,
We urge you to support the Doggett amendment to the tax portion of the energy bill, which would end the decades-old...
An Open Letter to the Senate: Water Resources Development Act Bill Flushes More than $17 Billion Down the Drain
April 10, 2005 |
Dear Senator:
Our organizations strongly oppose S. 728, the Water Resources Development Act of 2005 (WRDA 2005). This legislation...
World Trade Organization Overrules King Cotton
March 03, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Franz Matzner, Policy Analyst of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the World Trade...
TCS Statement on Mike Searﾒs Sentencing
February 18, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for...
TCS Testimony: Waste, Fraud and Abuse in U.S. Government Contracting in Iraq
February 14, 2005 |
Oral Statement of Steve Ellis, Vice President of Programs, Taxpayers
for Common Sense
before
Senate Democratic Policy Committee Oversight...
Boeing/Druyun Dragnet Expands
February 14, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense regarding...
The Gravina Access Project: A Bridge to Nowhere
February 09, 2005 |
Recipient of the TCS "Golden Fleece Award in 2003 (Read the award write-up)
Project Update (September 2007): After many years of...
Administration Introduces the ‘Budget of the Living Dead’
February 07, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President of Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the...
ANALYSIS OF THE PRESIDENT’S FY2006 BUDGET REQUEST
February 01, 2005 |
ANALYSIS OF THE PRESIDENT'S FY2006 BUDGET REQUEST
February 2005
#10 - Advanced Technology Program
FY06 Budget...
Energy Policy: Legislative Proposals in the 109th Congress
January 21, 2005 |
This report discusses the 109th Congress legislative proposals on issues concerning Ethanol and MTBE Arctic National Wildlife Refuge...
TCS Challenges New Appropriations Chair to Rein in Spending
January 05, 2005 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense:
First,...
Agriculture-Based Renewable Energy Production
January 04, 2005 |
This report gives brief background information on agriculture-based renewable energy sources as well as describes the economic and energy...
Energy Policy: The Continuing Debate and Omnibus Energy Legislation
December 23, 2004 |
PDF Description: CRS report on the background and analysis of The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Other Non-Tax Energy, Production...
TCS Welcomes Punxsutawney Phil to Washington; Requests that Phil Be Allowed to Go Back to Bed
December 07, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a prepared statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense:
First,...
Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation and Electricity Conservation Issues
December 01, 2004 |
This report presents an analysis of energy efficiency goals and standards as presented by the DOE. It also includes information on DOE...
Public Comment on Roadless Rule
November 10, 2004 |
World Oil Demand and the Effect on Oil Prices
August 17, 2004 |
World Oil Demand and the Effect on Oil Prices
Letter Thanking Jeff Flake for Farm Subsidy Work
July 19, 2004 |
July 20, 2004
The Honorable Jeff Flake
United States House of Representatives
424 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear...
2004 Federal Register Notice on Roadless Interim Directive
July 15, 2004 |
[Federal Register: July 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 136)]
[Notices]
[Page 42648-42649]
From the Federal Register Online via...
TCS Statement on Bush Administration Roadless Rule Proposal
July 11, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a prepared statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) on the Bush...
Missed Opportunity on Energy & Water Spending Bill; House Pads Corps Water Budget
June 24, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. – The following is a prepared statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the House Energy &...
TCS Statement on FSC/ETI Corporate Tax Bill
June 16, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget...
TCS Applauds Congress on Cutting Corporate Welfare to the Timber Industry
June 15, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the efforts by...
TCS Statement on House Energy Bill Debate
June 14, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the energy bill...
Biscuit Fire Letter to Secretary Veneman 2004
June 14, 2004 |
The Honorable Ann M. Veneman
United States Department of Agriculture
Corporate Tax Bill a ‘Christmas Tree in June’
June 13, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the FSC/ETI Corporate...
Stop Attempts to Resurrect Dead Energy Bill: Oppose H.R. 4503
June 13, 2004 |
Dear Representative: Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a nonpartisan, budget watchdog group, opposes H.R. 4503, the Energy...
Road to Ruin: The 27 Most Wasteful Road Projects in America
June 01, 2004 |
Road to Ruin documents 27 road projects that will drain federal tax dollars, harm communities, and damage the natural environment. In total, these projects would cost federal taxpayers at least $24 billion....
Cut Funding for the Nuclear Bunker Buster:
June 01, 2004 |
Department of Defense Defers Tanker Lease Decision
May 25, 2004 |
Taxpayer Groups Blast Mississippi River Legislation: Embattled Locks Project Mired in Controversy Given Boost by Neighboring Senators
May 19, 2004 |
TCS Statement on the Jobs Act
May 11, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on final passage of...
Dozens of Special Interest Provisions Added to Corporate Tax Bill
May 04, 2004 |
TCS and NTU Letter To Sec Gale Norton
May 02, 2004 |
On behalf of our members, the undersigned groups urge you to exercise fiscal responsibility as the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) completes...
TCS Statement on Efforts to Add Energy Amendments to Internet Tax Non-discrimination Act of 2003
April 28, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget...
Statement on Introduction of Legislation to Curb Section 29 Abuses
April 27, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Aileen Roder, Program Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense on introduction of...
TCS Statement on Boeing IG Report
April 08, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement from Keith Ashdown, Vice President at Taxpayers for Common Sense:
The tanker lease...
Veto this Bill Mr. President
April 02, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the passage of...
Crossroads: Congress, the Corps of Engineers, and the Future of America’s Water Resources
March 20, 2004 |
The nation’s largest water management agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is at a crossroads. The Corps is poised to either...
TCS Statement on F/A-22ﾒs Skyrocketing Costs
March 15, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the new...
TCS Statement on the Elimination of the Comanche Program
February 23, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the...
TCS Statement on the Boeing Tanker Announcement
February 20, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President at Taxpayers for Common Sense on Boeing US Air...
Statement on S. 2095
February 19, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Aileen Roder, Program Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense on S. 2095:
Much...
TCS Statement on Release of the Presidentﾒs FY2005 Budget Request
February 02, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the...
TCS Statement on the Omnibus Spending Bill
January 22, 2004 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Omnibus Spending...
The Federal Grazing Program: A Stampede of Taxpayer Handouts
January 01, 2004 |
Grazing on public lands cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in direct subsidies over the last century. Considering the...
A Total Rip-off: Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on the Energy Sector
December 31, 2003 |
Economists Criticize Forest Service Over $10 Billion Road Backlog
December 18, 2003 |
Washington, DC - Investing in current roads instead of building new ones would help reduce the growing road maintenance crisis in the...
TCS Statement on the Passage of the Omnibus Spending Bill
December 08, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a prepared statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget...
2003 Economistﾒs Roadless Letter to President
December 03, 2003 |
Letter to President George W. Bush against the building of new national forest roads but for the maintenance of existing roads.
Phil Condit Resigns as CEO of Boeing
December 01, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs on Phillip M. Condit's resignation as...
Energy Bill Industry by Industry Cost Breakdown
November 18, 2003 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense Analysis of H.R. 6 by Energy Type or...
Analysis of Authorized Spending in Energy Bill (2003)
November 16, 2003 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense Analysis of Authorized Spending in Energy Bill Report (H.R. 6) Click Here to read this analysis.
Wyden-Sununu Endorsements
October 31, 2003 |
Title IV, Subtitle B of S. 14 provides federal loan guarantees to build six new nuclear power plants at an estimated cost of $14 to $16...
October 2003 Letter to Governor Bill Owens
October 30, 2003 |
The Honorable Bill Owens
Governor
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792
Dear Governor Owens:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS...
CBO Slams Boeing Tanker Lease
August 25, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the...
A Costly Deal on the Energy Bill
July 31, 2003 |
CATEGORY: ENERGY & MEDIA
TAGS: statement, Jill Lancelot, energy bill, Senate, tax breaks, energy subsidies
TITLE: A Costly Deal on the...
TCS Statement on Boeing Lease Deal
July 22, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense following...
Amend Sec. 5025 to Require Cost-Justification for Arkansas River Deepening Project
July 21, 2003 |
Dear Chairman Young:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan, budget watchdog group, is highly concerned by...
Cut Corporate Welfare From the Foreign Operation Appropriation Bill
July 21, 2003 |
Dear Representative:
With the FY04 budget deficit approaching $500 billion, the corporate welfare hidden in H.R. 2800, the Foreign...
Recommended Cuts for FY04 Interior Appropriations
July 20, 2003 |
Dear Senator: Our nation faces a record deficit of more than $450 billion for FY03. This places an even greater responsibility on...
House Approves $8 Million for Delaware Deepening
July 17, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense in...
Religious Leaders Roadless Letter
July 16, 2003 |
Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord. Psalm 96:12-13
Support for Limitations on Road-building in National Forests
July 15, 2003 |
Dear Representative Inslee,
Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan budget watchdog organization, supports your funding limitation...
Administrationﾒs Plan to Exempt America’s Largest National Forest from Roadless Rule Will Cost Taxpayers Millions
July 14, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The Bush administration's proposal to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Area Conservation Rule will...
Keep Fiscally Wasteful Project Out of FY04 Energy and Water Development Appropriations
July 07, 2003 |
Dear Chairman Hobson and Representative Visclosky:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan, budget watchdog group,...
Recommendations for FY04 Senate Interior Appropriations Bill
July 06, 2003 |
Dear Senator:
Our budget deficit has grown to more than $400 billion, making it more important than ever to exercise fiscal restraint in...
Scientists Roadless Letter
June 29, 2003 |
June 30, 2003
Include Reform for Army Corps of Engineers in Water Resources Development Act
June 23, 2003 |
Dear Chairman Young:
As you mark up a potential Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2003, we urge you to include significant reforms...
Rep. Don Young Wins Golden Fleece Award
June 12, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - Rep Don Young (R-AK) was awarded the Golden Fleece Award today by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog...
Golden Fleece: $190 Million Bridge to Nowhere
June 12, 2003 |
***This article first published June 12, 2003 when TCS was the first to shed light on the "Bridge to Nowhere"***
Rep. Don Young...
Rep. Don Young Wins Golden Fleece Award
June 11, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - Rep Don Young (R-AK) was awarded the Golden Fleece Award today by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog...
Oppose H.R. 901: Bridge Proposal Rips Off Taxpayers
June 09, 2003 |
Dear Resources Committee Member: We oppose H.R. 901, introduced by Congressmen John Doolittle (R-CA) and Doug Ose (R-CA). This bill...
More Review Needed of Boeing Refueling Aircraft Program
June 09, 2003 |
Dear Congressman:
We are writing to express our concern over the recent Department of Defense approval to lease 100 Boeing 767 "tanker...
Senate Votes to Increase Corporate Welfare for the Nuclear Industry
June 09, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Senate decision to...
TCS Endorses New Bipartisan Roadless Legislation
June 04, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Shannon Collier, Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the...
GAO: “Little Progress” Made on Fixing Forest Service Financial Management Problems
June 01, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The Forest Service has consistently failed to provide American taxpayers and Congress with a clear accounting of what...
Vote “NO” on H.R. 1904: Bill Fails to Prioritize Limited Taxpayer Resources and Provides $125 Million in New Subsidies
May 18, 2003 |
Dear Representative:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan, budget watchdog group, opposes H.R. 1904, the...
Fixed Direct Payments: Flawed Formula Fleeces Taxpayers
May 18, 2003 |
Fixed Direct Payments, or ‘decoupled payments’, provide farmers with direct income unrelated to the market. Many argue that direct income...
Taxpayers and Public Health to Benefit from Mining Law Reforms
May 14, 2003 |
Green Scissors 2003
May 07, 2003 |
Analysis of Senate Energy Bill of 2003
May 02, 2003 |
PDF Description: As the Senate brings their energy policy legislation to the floor this week, it is clear that their bill is as filled with...
GAO to Audit Bonneville Power
April 22, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, has alerted the Bonneville Power Administration...
Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 2003
April 10, 2003 |
Dear Representative Rahall,
On behalf of the millions of members from across the country that the undersigned organizations represent, we...
Analysis Finds House Energy Bill Fueled By Pork
April 10, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. -- The House of Representatives today passed a new energy bill loaded with billions of special interest provisions and...
Oppose the Energy Policy Act of 2003
April 09, 2003 |
Dear Representative,
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan, budget watchdog group, strongly opposes the "Energy...
Lawmakers Add Shipbuilding Subsidies to Wartime Spending Bill
April 02, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - Defying President Bush’s request to keep the Wartime Emergency Supplemental bill clean from extraneous and wasteful...
TCS Action Letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee
April 01, 2003 |
Dear Energy and Commerce Committee Member,
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan, budget watchdog group, strongly...
Oppose Tax Break for Alaska Natural Gas in Energy Bill
April 01, 2003 |
Dear Finance Committee Member:
Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action), a non-partisan budget watchdog group, has major concerns...
Folsom Bridge Legislation is Over Trouble Waters, Says TCS
April 01, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement from Aileen Roder, Program Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national...
TCS Report: The Cost of War
March 24, 2003 |
War has always been expensive and the war in Iraq is no different. The United States has already spent $1 billion dollars on cruise...
Key Taxpayer Vote: Responsible Budget Resolution Cutting Spending, Balancing Budget
March 18, 2003 |
Dear Representative: When the House of Representatives considers the budget resolution this week, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS...
TCS Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Grazing Administration Regulations Anticipated Notice of Public Rulemaki
March 13, 2003 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense opposes any alterations that would limit public access to federal grazing lands or reduce the opportunity for...
Analysis of H.R. 6 ﾖ Energy Policy Act of 2003
March 11, 2003 |
PDF Description: The current 768 page, 5 inch thick energy legislation is fueled by pork and will do very little to reduce energy prices or...
Federal Salmon Recovery Plan Year 2: Costing hundreds of millions of dollars and doing little for salmon
February 26, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Autumn Hanna, Senior Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national...
BPA Gets a Valentine Gift from Federal Taxpayers
February 14, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - Despite opposition from leading taxpayer and environmental groups, Congress, last night, approved a $700 million...
Closer Scrutiny of BPA Finances Needed
February 07, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Autumn Hanna, Senior Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national...
Bush Budget is Riverboat Gamble that May Drown in Sea of Red Ink
February 03, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President of Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget...
Barge Traffic Continues Dropping on Mississippi and Illinois Rivers
January 29, 2003 |
Washington, DC - Barge traffic on the Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway continues to decline, according to new Army Corps of...
Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Lost to Logging, Road Building in Alaska
January 29, 2003 |
Washington, DC - The following is a written statement by Aileen Roder, Program Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget...
Audit Finds Federal Fire Dollars Wasted
January 09, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - Firefighting crews have “totally ignored” federal rules by spending taxpayer money with the “the perception that...
TCS Slams Bush Stimulus Plan
January 07, 2003 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national...
WILDFIRE: JUST THE FACTS
December 31, 2002 |
1. During the 2002 wildfire season:
2.4 million acres of Forest Service and burned, in addition to 4.8 million acres of other...
Power Council Proposes to Further Weaken Salmon Recovery Efforts
December 09, 2002 |
Portland, OR - On the eve of a hearing on proposed changes to hydropower operations in the Columbia River basin, conservationists are...
Feds Spend $3.3 billion on Salmon Recovery
August 25, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Federal agencies have spent more than $3.3 billion on salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River basin, according to...
Forest Service Misplaced $215 Million in Firefighting Funds
August 21, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - In a memo obtained from the Forest Service by Taxpayers for Common Sense, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth disclosed...
TCS Statement on the House Resources Committee Markup on H.R. 2301
July 23, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Prepared Statement by Aileen Roder, Water Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the House Resources Committee...
House Expected to Approve Massive Spending Increases Over Bush Interior Budget
July 15, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The House of Representatives is expected to approve today the $20.4 billion Department of Interior spending bill, which...
End Forest Service Political Demagoguery
July 10, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Despite Forest Service efforts to blame everyone but themselves for the western wildfire crisis, the leading fire...
Terrorism Insurance Giveaway
June 27, 2002 |
Following the airline industry's lead, insurance executives have been lobbying Congress for terrorism insurance legislation that will...
As Budget Surpluses Evaporate, Lawmakers Continue to Waste Money, According to New Study
June 18, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Despite many lawmaker's rhetorical claims of fiscal responsibility and budget discipline, very few follow through by...
TCS Statement on the Smith-Feingold-McCain Corp Reform Bill
June 17, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Written Statement By Steve Ellis, Senior Director of Water Resources, Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the...
Letﾒs End the Century of Subsidies
June 16, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The following statement was released today by Steve Ellis, Senior Director of Water Resources at Taxpayers for Common...
TCS Statement on New Bipartisan Roadless Legislation
June 04, 2002 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent budget watchdog organization, strongly supports the bipartisan Roadless Area Conservation Act of...
Senate Should Protect United States From Frivolous Foreign Lawsuits
May 20, 2002 |
Long-Awaited Corps of Engineers Project Suspension List Released
May 16, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2002) - An early copy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' much anticipated "project review list" was obtained by...
New Legislation Would Protect Taxpayers, Prevent Nationﾒs Largest Toxic Polluter from Destroying Rivers and Streams
May 15, 2002 |
Bill would prevent bad actors, like those behind Rock Creek Mine proposal underneath Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, from sticking taxpayers...
TCS Statement on Markup of H.R. 2301
May 14, 2002 |
Provision in Trade Bill Could Cost Taxpayers Billions According to New Study
May 13, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Legislation to renew the President's authority to negotiate new trade agreements could set the stage for unprecedented...
Irrigation Provision in Farm Bill Could Sell Taxpayers Down the River
May 09, 2002 |
Cost Overruns, Unanswered Scientific Questions Plague Yucca Project
May 06, 2002 |
Taxpayer, Environmental Groups Applaud New Fishery Management Law; Offer Suggestions to Enhance Taxpayer, Environmental and Fisherman Protections
May 01, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The Magnuson-Stevens Act being taken up in subcommittee today is an excellent first step towards protecting fishermen...
TCS Statement on the Corps of Engineers Decision to Halt 150 Wasteful Project Pending New Economic Studies
April 29, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today that it will be delaying 150 water projects pending further economic...
TCS Blasts Senate on Ethanol Decision
April 22, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The Senate decision today to approve the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that will increase the use of ethanol to 5...
TCS Statement on House Supporting Payment Caps in Farm Bill
April 17, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Statement by Cena Swisher, Senior Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the House Supporting Payment Caps in Farm...
Oppose legislation that will make last year’s tax cut permanent
April 15, 2002 |
Dear Representative:
In a few days, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider legislation to make permanent the tax...
Green Scissors 2002
April 10, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - With the return of budget deficits and the annual political war over the budget bills set to start, today a coalition...
$85 Million Bridge Boondoggle Fleeces Taxpayers
April 09, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is attempting the get the Bureau of Reclamation, a water supply agency, to build an $85...
TCS Statement on the release of the American Rivers Most Endangered Rivers Report
April 02, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Written Statement by Joe Theissen, Executive Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense for the April 2nd release of the...
Pork Council Recommends Name Change
April 01, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The Pork Council, known primarily for their "Pork, the other white meat" campaign, has announced a multi-million dollar...
TCS Slams Postage Increase
March 22, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent budget watchdog, today criticized the U.S. Postal Service for raising postage...
TCS Statement on Passage of Campaign Finance Reform Legislation
March 20, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent budget watchdog, applauds the action of the U.S. Senate in passing and...
Congress Should Not Put the Nationﾒs Credit Rating at Risk by Playing Politics with the Debt Ceiling
March 13, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - Congress should pass President Bush's request to increase the nation's debt ceiling without delay, said Taxpayers for...
Army Corps Decision Against Dam Removal Could Cost Taxpayers Billions and Drive Salmon to Extinction
February 20, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The US Army Corps of Engineers' decision not to remove the four dams on the Lower Snake River in eastern Washington...
Despite Changes, Farm Bill Costs too Much, Continues to Plague Family Farmers
February 13, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The following statement is from Joe Theissen, Executive Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense in response to final...
National Fire Plan Funds Mishandled
February 12, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The United States Forest Service (USFS) and Department of Interior (DOI) have failed to identify communities that face a...
Back to the Future: Bush Budget Busts the Bank
February 04, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The Bush Administration's proposed $2.13 trillion federal budget with its massive new spending will lead us into a new...
Common Sense Principles For The 2003 Budget
February 01, 2002 |
The following are five important budget principles that should guide Congress in formulating the Fiscal Year 2003 federal budget....
Direct Costs of the Federal Grazing Program for FY 2003
February 01, 2002 |
Direct Costs of the Federal Grazing Program
In fiscal year 2002, the BLM spent $80.6 million on rangeland management and range...
Energy Polluter Poised to Reap $62 Billion in Taxpayer Handouts
January 31, 2002 |
WASHINGTON, DC-Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate passes the House energy bill (H.R....
Bush Administration Proposes Eliminating Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles
January 09, 2002 |
Washington, D.C. - The following is a statement from Cena Swisher, Senior Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the proposed...
TCS Letter to Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth
December 10, 2001 |
December 10, 2001
Chief Dale Bosworth
Forest Service
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Sidney R. Yates Federal Building
201 14th Street,...
10 Billion Dollar California Water Bill to be Debated Today
November 07, 2001 |
Washington, DC - A $10 billion bill to fund California water projects will launch a new era of wasteful water projects at the expense of...
Bonneville Power Shortchanging Taxpayers
October 30, 2001 |
Using a controversial interpretation of a federal repayment credit provided to Bonneville Power to restore endangered salmon, the...
Who Paid for FIreworks?: Budget Group Wants to Know Who Picked Up Tab
September 05, 2001 |
Washington, DC -- A prominent budget watchdog group today called for an investigation to determine whether taxpayer funds were used to pay...
TCS Statement on the Dwindling Federal Budget Surplus
August 26, 2001 |
Washington, D.C. - Statement by Keith Ashdown, Communications Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Dwindling Federal Budget...
Billions in Energy Subsidies, Tax Breaks Approved by House
August 01, 2001 |
Investigation Reveals Weaknesses in Federal Firefighting
Funding for Wildfire Management Could be Wasted, Misused, Says...
Billions for Big Business in House Energy Plan
July 30, 2001 |
Washington, D.C. - An energy bill about to be debated in Congress would do nothing to solve America's energy woes and would dish out more...
Western Water Enhancement Security Act
July 01, 2001 |
Last month Representative Calvert (R-CA), Chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced...
Statement on defeat of the Auburn Dam for the fifth time in a decade
June 26, 2001 |
Last night Congress struck down the $2.5 Auburn Dam project for the fifth time in a decade through a major bi-partisan effort.
The Auburn...
Army Corps of Engineers Reform and Community Relations Improvement Act of 2001
June 26, 2001 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense would like to applaud Congressman Tancredo for his leadership and defense of taxpayers in introducing this bill...
EPA Letter to California Governor Gray Davis on ethanol
June 20, 2001 |
Letter from EPA Administrator Whitman to California Governor denying their request for a waiver from the oxygen content requirement of the...
Budget Group Cites Wasteful Spending, Says Congress is at Fiscal Crossroads
May 22, 2001 |
Washington, DC (May 23) - The out-of-control spending that marked the second session of the 106th Congress threatens to squander projected...
Analysis of Bush Administrationﾒs energy task force report
May 16, 2001 |
Analysis of Bush Administration’s energy task force report released on May 17, 2001, by Cena Swisher, Program Director. Taxpayers for...
Alternative Presented for Grand Prairie Irrigation
May 15, 2001 |
(Washington) - A coalition of Chambers of Commerce, conservationists, sportsmen, and farmers today unveiled a $144 million plan to meet the...
Letter Report: The Internal Revenue Service Continues to Give Incorrect Tax Law Information in Taxpayer Assistance Centers
April 30, 2001 |
May 2001
Reference Number: 2001-40-077
This report has cleared the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration disclosure review...
2001 Scientists Roadless Letter
April 30, 2001 |
Letter to President George W. Bush from natural recourses scientists supporting Roadless protection of undeveloped national forests.
Billions Could be Saved From Nuclear Weapons Reductions
April 29, 2001 |
Washington, D.C. - President George W. Bush tomorrow is expected to announce a sizable reduction of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. A...
2001 Religious Leaders Roadless Letter
April 29, 2001 |
Letter to President George W. Bush from religious leaders endorsing Roadless protection of natural resources.
Four Criteria for Making Missile Defense Decisions
April 17, 2001 |
Secretary Rumsfeld:
Several months into your bottom-up review of the current status of national security, you have likely reached the...
Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Introduces Bill to Revamp Army Corps of Engineers
March 29, 2001 |
Washington, D.C. - Legislation introduced today in Congress would revamp the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and...
Bush Administration Suspends Mining Rule
March 21, 2001 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Interior Department's proposal to suspend efforts to make mining corporations pay to clean up their mine sites could...
Joint CVP Letter to Sec Babbitt January 9 2001
January 09, 2001 |
The Honorable Bruce Babbitt
Secretary of Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Suite 6151
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Mr. Babbitt:
This letter...
From the Ashes
December 31, 2000 |
Reducing the Harmful Effects and Rising Costs of Western Wildfires...
FAA Receives Golden Fleece Award for Fleecing Taxpayers at Tampa International Airport
November 02, 2000 |
TAMPA, FL – Citing bargain-basement leases to rich developers at the Tampa International Airport, a national taxpayers organization today...
Livestock Grazing: Federal Expenditures and Receipts Vary, Depending on the Agency and the Purpose of the Fee Charged
October 31, 2000 |
Summary: The 10 federal agencies managed more than 22.6 million AUMs on about 235 million acres of federal lands for grazing and land...
2000 Scientists Roadless Letter
October 08, 2000 |
Letter of endorsement directed to President Clinton by natural recourses scientists desiring to protect undeveloped portions of national...
Passing the Buck
October 01, 2000 |
How the Mining Industry Used Outdated Rules to Pass Environmental Cleanup Costs to Taxpayers...
Anti-Salmon Rider Passes ﾖ Taxpayers Potentially Liable for Billions
September 21, 2000 |
Washington, DC - A legislative rider that would perpetuate salmon extinction and cost taxpayers billions was included in the Interior...
LTC Test Page
September 14, 2000 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense and the National Wildlife Federation together sent a letter to House Committee on Natural Resources Water and...
Conservation, Taxpayer Groups Offer 90-day Prescription to Reform Scandal-Plagued Corps of Engineers
September 13, 2000 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Conservation and taxpayer advocacy groups have called upon President Clinton and Congress to make significant changes...
1000 Teachers Ask President to Separate Logging and Rural Education
September 06, 2000 |
WASHINGTON, DC- More than 1000 professional educators from across the country today called on the President to end the link between funding...
TCS Releases Annual Congressional Scorecard on Wasteful Spending and Fiscal Responsibility
August 09, 2000 |
White House Decision to Delay Dam Removal Could Drive Salmon to Extinction and Cost Taxpayers Billions
July 19, 2000 |
Washington, DC - The Administration's decision to delay removing four dams on the Lower Snake River is unacceptable because it could drive...
Army Corps of Engineers Reform Act of 2000 Introduced in the House
July 17, 2000 |
(Washington, DC)-Environmental and taxpayer groups today praised Representatives Ron Kind (D- WI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Earl Blumenauer...
Agricultural Appropriations Bill Reaches Too Deep
June 28, 2000 |
Washington, DC - The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an appropriations bill today that is riddled with unnecessary...
Chabot takes Stand Against Wasteful Spending
June 28, 2000 |
Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH) today offered two separate amendments to the House Agriculture spending bill that would eliminate...
Congressional Testimony by Jill Lancelot, TCS Senior Advisor on June 7, 2000, before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
June 06, 2000 |
Taxpayers for Common Sense testified to the Congress regarding the Animas-La Plata (ALP) project in 2000. Since its founding in 1995, TCS...
Troubled Waters
March 08, 2000 |
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is wasting billions of dollars on environmentally harmful projects, charges a new report by Taxpayers...
Troubled Waters: Congress, the Corps of Engineers, and Wasteful Water Projects
March 01, 2000 |
At the beginning of the 21st Century, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the nation's chief water resources agency, finds itself adrift in...
Actors Adam West and Mariel Hemingway, Endorse Retirement of Four Lower Snake River Dams
January 21, 2000 |
Budget Train Wreck Appears Likely
September 19, 1999 |
Washington, DC — The U.S. Senate defeated an amendment offered by Sen. Richard Bryan (D-NV), Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), and Sen. Ron...
TCS Commends F-22 Cuts
July 21, 1999 |
Army Extends THAAD Deadlines, Signs Agreement to Possibly Rescind Lockheed-Martin Fines
July 08, 1999 |
The Pentagon has announced an extension of the THAAD intercept deadlines in its agreement with Lockheed-Martin from July 16, 1999 until...
Agriculture Appropriations Bill Reaches Too Deep
May 24, 1999 |
Welfare for Waste
May 01, 1999 |
How Federal Taxpayers Subsidies Waste Resources and Discourage Recycling...
300 Groups Endorse Retirement of the Four Dams on
April 11, 1999 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 12, 1999) - Over 300 national and grassroots organizations from across America today endorsed the retirement of...
07 Members of Congress Urge President to Consider Snake River Salmon Recovery Options
April 04, 1999 |
WASHINGTON, D.C.— One hundred and seven members of Congress today called upon President Clinton for "prompt" consideration of all options...
Water Pork Bill Floats Through Senate
March 17, 1999 |
Washington DC- A national taxpayer organization today called for key reforms to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a bill expected...
The Brush Disposal Fund
January 11, 1999 |
The Brush Disposal Fund is one of the smaller U.S. Forest Service "trust funds" that depend on the federal timber program. Forest Service...
The Roads and Trails Fund
January 11, 1999 |
The Roads and Trails Fund is one of the smaller U.S. Forest Service "trust funds" that depend on the federal timber program. Forest Service...
The Timber Salvage Sale Fund
January 11, 1999 |
The Salvage Sale Fund is one of several U.S. Forest Service "trust funds" that is dependent on the federal timber program. Forest Service...
The Replanting Fund
January 11, 1999 |
The Replanting Fund is one of several U.S. Forest Service "trust funds" that is dependent on the federal timber program. Forest Service...
Energy Secretary Richardson Saves Taxpayers $5 Billion: Supports DOE Tritium Decision and Oppose Pork Barrel Opponents
December 23, 1998 |
...
Budget of the Living Dead
October 31, 1995 |
How 13 Budget Zombies Are Devouring Your Tax Dollars...
Earmark Disclosure Test Page
January 01, 1970 |
You can help us keep TABs on who in Congress is disclosing their earmark requests. We have found that x number of members of Congress do...
TCS Election Game
October 22, 1910 |
For a complete list of the races you'll be picking, CLICK HERE. Loading...
Congressional Subsidies for Private Logging
December 13, 1901 |
Why Does Congress Subsidize Timber Corporations to Cut Down the Public’s National Forests?
Hundreds of millions of tax dollars are spent...
Oil and Gas Subsidies Overview
December 13, 1901 |
Subsidies for oil and natural gas began in 1916 with the federal government creating its first tax breaks for oil and gas production....
Nuclear Subsidies Overview
December 13, 1901 |
There is a long tradition of providing massive subsidies for nuclear power in the U.S. Between 1948 and 1998; more than $66 billion was...
Superfund - The Clark Fork River Basin
December 13, 1901 |
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and liability act of 1980, also known as the Superfund, gives the federal...
Charles Taylor: Jackson County Properties
December 13, 1901 |
Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) owns several pieces of property in Jackson County, NC, including at least two that are very close to Highway 19,...
Brush Disposal Trust Fund
December 13, 1901 |
The Brush Disposal Fund is one of the smaller U.S. Forest Service "trust funds" that depend on the federal timber program. Forest Service...
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