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Political Contributions & Conflicts of Interest Taint U.S. Ag Policies

May 22, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

Political Contributions & Conflicts of Interest Taint U.S. Ag Policies Despite our nation’s $16.8 trillion debt and record deficits, agricultural lobbyists continue to fearlessly campaign for more subsidies... Read More

Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet

April 02, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Rural Energy for America Program Fact Sheet The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) was created in the 2008 farm bill to provide federal grants and loans to renewable energy... Read More

Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby

March 20, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Energy

Political Footprint of the Corn Ethanol Lobby The federal government has in one form or another provided lucrative subsidies to the corn ethanol industry for more than 30 years,... Read More

Analysis of Selected Sections of S. 601, Water Resources Development Act of 2013

March 20, 2013 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Natural Resources , Transportation & Infrastructure

Analysis of Selected Sections of S. 601, Water Resources Development Act of 2013 The Senate's Environment and Public Works committee is taking up a water project bill that could cost taxpayers billions.... Read More

Crop Insurance Administrative Policy Changes

January 30, 2013 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture

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

Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance

October 31, 2012 | Fact Sheet | Agriculture , Budget & Tax

Haves and Have-Nots in Federal Crop Insurance Federally subsidized crop insurance has become the largest taxpayer support for agriculture. But not all parts of the agriculture... Read More

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

Sliding Past Sequestration: $2 Trillion in Common Sense Cuts to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff In the summer of 2011, Congress sent the President a bill that acknowledged failure. Instead of swallowing hard and coming up with... 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

Backdoor Earmarks? Slush-y Funds in the Corps of Engineers Budget

February 08, 2012 | Policy Brief | Earmarks & Appropriations , Transportation & Infrastructure

Backdoor Earmarks? Slush-y Funds in the Corps of Engineers Budget (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... Read More

Super Cuts for the Super Committee

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... Read More

Green Scissors 2011

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined environmental, consumer watchdog, and free-market groups today to release Green Scissors 2011, which... Read More

No Deal on Ethanol for Taxpayers

July 19, 2011 | Policy Brief | Agriculture , Energy

A small group Senators are attempting to snatch fiscal defeat from the jaws of taxpayer victory on ethanol subsidies. Last month the... Read More

Earmark Terms Glossary

July 06, 2011 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Categories of Earmarks Disclosed Lawmaker: Earmarks Earmarks that appear in the explanatory statement of an appropriations bill for... Read More

Big Oil, Big Corn: An in-depth look at the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit

June 23, 2011 | Reports & Data | Energy , Natural Resources

Big Oil, Big Corn: An in-depth look at the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit 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... Read More

Subsidy Gusher: Taxpayers Stuck With Massive Subsidies While Oil and Gas Profits Soar

May 17, 2011 | Reports & Data | Energy , Natural Resources

Subsidy Gusher: Taxpayers Stuck With Massive Subsidies While Oil and Gas Profits Soar There are a couple of basic truths about oil and gas companies today--they are highly profitable, heavily subsidized, and well-connected... Read More

Ongoing TCS Analysis of the FY2012 Budget Proposal

March 10, 2011 | Policy Brief |

The FY2012 Presidential Budget Request was released this morning. TCS staff will be posting relevant documents and analysis as we digest... Read More

Common Sense Cuts—$900 billion in savings over 10 years

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... Read More

TCS Recommended Budget Cuts for the 112th Congress

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... Read More

FY2011 Omnibus Appropriations Earmark Database

December 29, 2010 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

(Originally Posted 12/17/2010) Taxpayers for Common Sense has completed an initial database of the 6,706 earmarks worth $8.3 billion... Read More

TCS Releases Database of FY11 Earmark Requests

December 07, 2010 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Taxpayers for Common Sense, WashingtonWatch.com, and Taxpayers Against Earmarks teamed together to develop a database of all fiscal year 2011 earmark requests.... Read More

TCS Preliminary Earmark Analysis for FY 2011

November 05, 2010 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Originally Posted 10/19/2010: The FY2011 budget is a mess. Congress has not finished a single spending bill. The House has approved... Read More

Election Gives Big-Spending Congressional Committees New Look

The Armed Services Committees are not the only Congressional bodies to see their memberships upended by the midterm elections. The... Read More

FutureGen: Massive Clean Coal Project Changes Track, Still Securing $1 Billion Earmarked in the Stimulus

August 06, 2010 | Fact Sheet |

Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the plan to build “FutureGen” a massive commercial “clean coal” facility in Mattoon,... Read More

UPDATE: Earmarks in Defense Authorization Bill

June 06, 2010 | Policy Brief | National Security

(June 4, 2010) This week’s Memorial Day Congressional recess gave us a chance to peer under the lid of the House defense authorization... Read More

Exploring the Relationship Between Earmarks and Campaign Contributions

June 02, 2010 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive Politics have joined to release a comprehensive database that links campaign... Read More

FY10 Omnibus Disclosed Earmark Numbers

December 10, 2009 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

Preliminary disclosed earmark totals for the FY10 Omnibus: Transportation/HUD: 1481 worth $1.207... Read More

UPDATE: President Signs Defense Authorization Bill with $4 billion in Earmarks

October 29, 2009 | Policy Brief | National Security

(October 30) President Obama signed a $680 billion defense authorization bill this week—the largest such bill ever—with a declaration... Read More

Complete Database of House and Senate Earmark Requests

June 01, 2009 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

After searching all 99 senate websites (remember the Coleman/Franken Minnesota race is still unresolved), we now have a complete database... Read More

Visclosky FY08 & FY09 PMA Client Earmarks

May 28, 2009 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations , National Security

The FBI has subpoenaed various records and documents from Rep. Visclosky’s (D-IN) offices in relation to the previously raided PMA Group... Read More

Database of FY2010 Earmark Requests

May 06, 2009 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

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... Read More

President Signs Earmark-Laden Spending Bill

September 29, 2008 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

President George W. Bush signed a massive year-end spending bill late Tuesday, just hours before a new fiscal year began. The "Minibus"... Read More

Stevens Tops FY2009 Earmark Heap

September 24, 2008 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

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... Read More

2,321 Earmarks worth $6.6 Billion in Minibus Legislation

September 23, 2008 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

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... Read More

Sample of Earmarks in the FY09 Minibus

September 23, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

It’s slow going looking through the earmarks, but here’s a few – some are repeat customers and some are rookie earmarks. More to... Read More

House Releases Homeland Security Earmark Letters

September 18, 2008 | Policy Brief | Earmarks & Appropriations , National Security

The House Appropriations Committee has just released the earmark request letters for the 2009 Department of Homeland Security... Read More

FY2009 Appropriations Bills: TCS Analyses and Earmark Databases

The following are links to TCS's analysis and database for each of the FY09 appropriations bills. (Note: With the exception of House... Read More

Senate Adds $5.2 Billion in Earmarks to Defense Authorization Bill

September 16, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations , National Security

The Senate is expected to pass the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill sometime tonight, but to do so they will have to resolve a raucous... Read More

Sen. Obama (D-IL) Requested $860.6 million in earmarks FY2006-FY2008

September 11, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) requested 326 projects worth $860.6 million between FY2006 and FY2008, according to a Taxpayers for Common Sense... Read More

Senate Energy and Water Earmark Total Nearly Identical to Last Year

August 10, 2008 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY2009 Energy and Water appropriations bill contains 1,480 earmarks worth $3.50 billion (click here... Read More

Nearly $200 million in Agriculture Earmarks in Senate Bill

August 04, 2008 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The Senate Appropriations Committee included 307 earmarks worth about $197.2 million in the Fiscal Year 2009 Agriculture Appropriations... Read More

House Earmarks $721 Million in Military Construction Appropriations Bill

July 31, 2008 | Reports & Data | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The House of Representative today passed a bill to fund Military Construction and Veterans Affairs programs in fiscal year 2009 contains... Read More

Senate Doubles House Take of Financial Services Earmarks

July 23, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The FY 2009 Senate Financial Services Appropriations bill contains 90 earmarks worth $221.3 million (click here to view the database).... Read More

Earmarks for Energy and Water Projects Double in House Legislation

July 22, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The FY 2009 House Energy and Water Appropriations bill contains 1,465 congressional earmarks for a total cost of more than $3.1 billion... Read More

Cost of Senate Labor-HHS Earmarks Increase Significantly

July 16, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

The FY 2009 Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill contains 942 earmarks for a total cost of more than $847... Read More

Shelby, Milkulski Secure 25% of Earmarks on CJS Spending Bill

July 06, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The FY 2009 Senate Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill contains 552 earmarks worth $471.4 million, according to an... Read More

House Commerce Justice Science Spending Bill: 1,126 Earmarks, $442,562,000

July 01, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The FY 2009 House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill contains 1,126 earmarks worth $442,562,000. That is a decrease of 13... Read More

House Labor-HHS Spending Bill: 1,371 Earmarks, $619 Million

June 29, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The FY 2009 House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill contains 1371 earmarks for a total cost of $619,187,000. The number of projects... Read More

$57 million in earmarks in the House 2009 Financial Services spending bill

June 26, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

The 2009 House Financial Services Appropriations bill contains 197 earmarks for a total of $57 million (click here to see the database).... Read More

$197 Million in Homeland Security Earmarks in Senate Spending Bill

June 25, 2008 | Policy Brief | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations , National Security

The Senate version of the 2009 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill includes 19 congressional earmarks for a total of... Read More

House Defense Authorization Earmarks Jump From Last Year

June 12, 2008 | Policy Brief | Earmarks & Appropriations , National Security

A bill recently passed by the House increases the number of Defense Authorization earmarks by more than 20% from last year, according to... Read More

Database of Congressional Earmarks for FY2008

June 10, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

**First posted Feb. 14, 2008** Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) staff and interns have devoted thousands of hours to researching,... Read More

Ending the Earmark ATM: Despite Reforms, Earmarks Continue to Thrive

June 05, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Congress disclosed 11,234 earmarks worth $14.8 billion in this year’s spending bills. An additional $3.5 billion worth of earmarks were... Read More

Transportation Committee Discloses New Earmarks

The earmark disclosure debutantes are making their way to the floor today in the technical correction bill for SAFETEA-LU (H.R.... Read More

Taxpayers for Common Sense Releases New Earmark Database

February 14, 2008 | Reports & Data | Earmarks & Appropriations

Despite reform, new database finds that Congress hasn’t lost its appetite for pork Washington, D.C. – Congress has cut earmarks by 23... Read More

50 Defense Earmarks Not Disclosed by House Defense Committe

June 01, 2007 | Policy Brief | Earmarks & Appropriations , National Security

When the House of Representatives passed new rules just a few days into the new Congress requiring lawmakers to disclose the earmarks... Read More

Earmark Transparency One Step Closer

January 16, 2007 | Earmarks & Appropriations

Tonight, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the ethics bill to bring earmarks out of the shadowy corridors of the capitol and... Read More

Nuclear Subsidies in 2005 Energy Bill

May 24, 2005 | Policy Brief | Energy

For more than a half century the federal government has provided billions in handouts to the nuclear power industry. And today the... Read More

Analysis of Senate Energy Bill of 2003

May 02, 2003 | Policy Brief | Energy

As the Senate brings their energy policy legislation to the floor this week, it is clear that their bill is as filled with perks for... Read More

Analysis HR6 - Energy Policy Act of 2003

February 06, 2003 | Policy Brief | Energy

The current 768 page, 5 inch thick energy legislation is fueled by pork and will do very little to reduce energy prices or increase... Read More

Passing the Buck

October 01, 2000 | Reports & Data | Natural Resources

How the Mining Industry Used Outdated Rules to Pass Environmental Cleanup Costs to Taxpayers... Read More

Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending. View All

September 13, 2013

Syria: Excuse 535 To Not Cut the Deficit

Volume XVIII No. 37 Possible action in Syria has become the most recent excuse du jour for Pentagon boosters... Read More