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Taxpayer Risks with the Loan Guarantee Program

April 07, 2011 > Updated: August 28, 2012 | Energy , Natural Resources

Taxpayer Risks with the Loan Guarantee Program The Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee program carries extremely high taxpayer risk, potentially jeopardizing billions of taxpayer dollars if energy project loans default.... Read More

Crop Insurance Administrative Policy Changes

January 30, 2013 | Agriculture

Several administrative changes could be implemented to reduce taxpayer costs and limit the unintended consequences of federal crop insurance. ... Read More

Oil Shale: Failing Taxpayers for Decades

December 19, 2012 | Energy , Natural Resources

Since the early 20th century, the federal government and private industry have attempted to commercialize oil shale but after years of... Read More

Evolution of Earmarks

November 07, 2012 | Earmarks & Appropriations

Evolution of Earmarks and Earmark Disclosure in Recent Years... Read More

Political Power of the Agribusiness and Crop Insurance Lobbies

October 31, 2012 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Political Power of the Agribusiness and Crop Insurance Lobbies The so-called Farm Bill currently being negotiated in Congress is shaping up to be another taxpayer-funded handout to wealthy landowners,... Read More

Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance

October 31, 2012 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Federally subsidized crop insurance has become the largest taxpayer support for agriculture. But not all parts of the agriculture... Read More

Not So “Supercritical” Spending

September 28, 2012 | Energy

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. ... Read More

Taxpayer-Backed Loan Guarantees for Liquid Coal: Medicine Bow, Wyoming

September 18, 2012 | Energy

(Originally Posted December 2011, Most Recent Update: September 2012) In 2008, Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC applied for a $1.7 billion... Read More

DOE Loan Guarantees: Overview, Risks, and More

September 03, 2012 | Energy

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.... Read More

Record Drought Results in Record Profit

August 30, 2012 | Agriculture

Special interests are always looking for a silver lining. This year, it’s the farm lobby and sympathetic politicians shamelessly taking... Read More

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Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending. View All

February 15, 2013

Engineering Boondoggles

While Washington is wringing its hands about the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as... Read More