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Small Modular Reactors: Federal Subsidies for Mini Nukes

The Department of Energy (DOE) is asking Congress to provide $452 million in taxpayer subsidies to help license up to two experimental...

Golden Fleece: KABATA - Taxpayer Funded Cheerleaders for Alaska’s Knik Arm Bridge

Summary Over the last decade, the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) spent millions of federal taxpayer dollars on a project...

Essential Air Service Dataset

The Essential Air Service (EAS) is a federal subsidy program created in the 1970s as part of airline deregulation. Though the program was...

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....

Taxpayer Subsidies for Small Modular Reactors

The Department of Energy (DOE) is asking Congress to provide hundreds of millions in subsidies to commercialize small modular nuclear...

Golden Fleece Awarded to Risk Management Agency for Risking Taxpayer Dollars

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

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....

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...

Agricultural Safety Net 101

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

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

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

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)

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...

Golden Fleece Awarded to Riverboat Ripoff

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

The first half of 2012 has brought more multi-billion dollar profits for major oil companies. So far, these companies have raked in more...

Green Scissors Report 2012

Green Scissors 2012 is produced by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and R Street to highlight and end wasteful and environmentally harmful federal spending. This diverse coalition of environmental, taxpayer and free-market groups has come together to show how the government can save billions of tax dollars and improve our environment. ...

With Agriculture Disaster Aid Congress Pays Now, Hopes to Save Later

Citing record drought conditions throughout the country, the House is debating today legislation to retroactively extend four...

Coal Industry Profits

For centuries the federal government has been in the business of providing billions in subsidies to coal companies in order to ensure...

House Farm Bill Draft Analysis: Squanders Savings, Recycles Wasteful Ideas, and Creates New Subsidy Entitlement Programs

Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee released its 2012 Farm Bill draft which eliminates some wasteful commodity programs but...

MOX Misses the Mark

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. ...

Spending Even Less, Spending Even Smarter

A report from the Project on Government Oversight and Taxpayers for Common Sense published May 8, 2012 including recommendations for National Security Savings FY 2013 to FY 2022 Deficit Reduction $688 Billion....

Farm Safety Net Proposals that Fail to Save

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a report that will help you study up for this Wednesday’s Senate Farm Bill mark-up...

California HSR Project Cuts Costs but Federal Taxpayer Still on the Hook

In response to growing public opposition, questionable project merit, and an increasingly bloated cost, the California High Speed Rail...

Big Oil Tops $150 Billion in Profits in 2011

With annual financial reports being released this time of year, the oil and gas industry is looking to continue its decade long trend of...

FY13 Defense Budget Scorecard

The Defense Department today gave the public a peek behind the cover of its Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, releasing a report and fact...

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Too Costly for Taxpayers

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), also referred to as carbon capture and sequestration, is the process of separating carbon dioxide (CO2)...

Cashing In: Biofuels Industry Buys Congress’s Continued Support

Taxpayers for Common Sense released today a report detailing the heavily subsidized biofuels industry's political clout. The biofuels...

Big Oil, Big Profits

Another quarter, another unsurprising set of reports of huge profits for the oil companies. Continuing to be some of the most profitable...

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...

Myth v. Fact: Oil and Gas Companies’ Effective Tax Rate

              MYTH: OIL AND GAS COMPANIES HAVE A HIGH EFFECTIVE TAX RATE “The effective tax rate for the industry is...

Essentially Wasteful: The Essential Air Service

Congress has split town leaving an important deal unfinished. Yes, the debt ceiling got raised, but there’s another important piece of...

Spending Less, Spending Smarter: Recommendations for National Security Savings FY 2012 to FY 2021

Watchdog Groups Identify Nearly $600 Billion in National Security Spending Cuts WASHINGTON, D.C.—The federal government could save...

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...

The Most For Our Money—Highlighting Solutions for the Nation’s Transportation Problems

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

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) is the largest subsidy to corn ethanol, the most common biofuel in the U.S. The tax...

HR 1363 FY11 Defense/CR Only Cuts $4.4B

Not that it’s anything to sneeze at, but HR1363 the “Department of Defense and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011” that the...

Ongoing TCS Analysis of the FY2012 Budget Proposal

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

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

Tax Expenditures Total Cuts: $624 billion Cuts Include: Mortgage Interest Deduction Cut: $390 billion LIFO Cut: $52.9...

TCS Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: National Security

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: General

General Total Cuts: $421+ million Cuts Include: Shift Congressional Pensions to Defined Contribution Overseas Private Investment...

TCS Recommended Budget Cut List for the 112th Congress: Transportation

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: Infrastructure

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: Agriculture

Outdated and ineffective farm policies waste billions of federal funds each year, jeopardize fragile lands and waters and no longer...

TCS Recommended Budget Cut List No. 2: Total Cuts $205+ billion

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: Energy

Taxpayers have been subsidizing the same mature, polluting energy technologies for decades. Many projects and outdated programs still...

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...

Fair Market Value for Wind and Solar Development on Public Land

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....

TCS and the Grocery Manufacturers Association Hold a Briefing on the Impacts and Future of the Corn

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

The draft recommendations released this week by the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform propose...

DOD Still Years Away From Managing its Money

Despite efforts to save billions by improving the way it does business, the Defense Department is not only still years away from being...

Green Scissors 2010

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a number of environmental and consumer groups and a bipartisan slate of Representatives today in...

DOD Tries to Shave Billions From Contracting Costs

The scent of defense acquisition reform is heavy in the air again. Just don’t call it acquisition reform.  The Defense Department...

North Shore Road: Final Agreement a Win for Taxpayers

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...

2010 Defense Budget Winners and Losers

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

It was payback time for President Obama this week when he threw down the gauntlet to tax-dodging contractors.Taxpayers pay contractors...

MilCon, VA and State Department Funding in Omnibus

The House of Representatives drove home a $447 billion omnibus spending bill yesterday loaded with six of the seven appropriations bills...

Senate Version of The Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA)

Both the House and Senate have proposed the creation of the new federal financing entity known as the Clean Energy Deployment...

Congressional Budget Office Analysis Confirms Senate CEDA Jeopardizes Billions of Taxpayer Dollars

The American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (ACELA), S. 1462, as approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in...

The Amazing Waste: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Funding

Despite being expensive, inefficient, and ineffective, hydrogen fuel cell technologies have received more than $1.4 billion in federal...

Contractor Accountability Legislation in Defense Authorization

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) Congress handed off a $42.8 billion appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2010...

Congress Sends $106 Billion Supplemental to President

(June 26) We found 13 undisclosed earmarks worth $1.35 billion in the supplemental, including $904 million for seven C-130J aircraft,...

Bailout Bank Bio: General Motors

On June 1st GM filed for bankruptcy protection in order to reorganize. Under the proceeding the company will receive access to an...

Fact Sheet: Border Fence Costs Out of Bounds

Congress mandated the constuction of hundreds of miles of fencing along our Southern border in 2006 without any real knowledge of its...

TCS Releases Space Security Database

Space is crucial to our national security, and we’ve got the skyrocketing budgets to prove it. The United States spends billions on...

TCS on Gates Defense Budget Cuts

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)

On September 15, 2008 Bank of America acquired the investment bank Merrill Lynch. Bank of America Bank of America is the nation’s...

F-22: No More Second Helpings

Goodness, the difference an economic crisis can make. A few years ago, advertisements by defense contractors arguing that the U.S. should...

Nuclear Weapons Spending in the Omnibus

A look at the nuclear weapons budget in the omnibus reveals that while Congress is keeping nuke funding on a short leash, a controversial...

Bailout Bank Bio: AIG

UPDATE: March 4, 2009. After reporting a $61.7 billion quarterly loss – the biggest single quarter loss ever – in early March AIG asked...

National Security Spending in the Stimulus

The axe has fallen on the final version of the stimulus bill, and some national security spending ended up on the cutting room floor....

Water Infrastructure Spending in the House Economic Stimulus

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructs large water projects (dams, levees, pumping sand on beaches) across the country. In the...

Senate Supports Nuke Labs, Border Fence in Stimulus

 The House and Senate agree on many of the national security-related agencies that should receive stimulus funding. The Defense...

Report: U.S. Spends Over $52 Billion on Nukes

How much does the United States spend on nuclear weapons? Seems like a simple question that the agency charged with tending our nuclear...

GAO: More than $49 Million in Potentially Ineligible Farm Payments

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: Capital One Financial Inc

Capital One Financial is a financial services company whose products and services include consumer and commercial banking and credit card...

Bailout Bank Bio: Goldman Sachs

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?

President-elect Barack Obama’s new transition web site is pledging to review every major defense program for possible cuts, and...

Nuclear Reprocessing

Nuclear fuel reprocessing is the process of collecting nuclear waste to recover and reuse plutonium and uranium. Despite decades of...

Cost of War Reports

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

The Department of Defense paid contractors $13 billion for operations in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2007, according to documents...

CBO Lowballs Estimate of Iraq Contracts

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...

$35 Million in Undisclosed Earmarks in Senate State and Foreign Operations Bill

The 2009 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill contains 7 earmarks worth $35.4 million dollars (click here...

GAO: Defense Contract Audit Agency Bends to Contractor Pressure

TCS followers know we have argued for increased oversight of defense spending, particularly spending on contracts. The federal...

Final Days of Don Young’s Way?

With board members jumping ship, the governor asking tough questions, and the cost estimate ballooning, the logical conclusion is that...

Senate Cuts Transportation Earmarks

The FY09 Senate appropriations bill providing money for transportation and Housing and Urban Development projects contains 609 earmarks...

Golden Fleece Award

Taxpayers for Common Sense Announces New Golden Fleece Recipient Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority - Taxpayer Funded Cheerleaders...

TCS Statement On Partnership in Senate Farm Bill Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10, 2007 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement by Ms....

House Transportation Spending Bill: The Road to Political Pork

Washington, D.C. - The House FY08 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill contains more...

Kind-Flake Legislation Brings the Farm Bill into the 21st Century

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2007 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by...

Earmark Transparency One Step Closer

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

TCS Statement on the Signing of the Transportation Bill

Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown, Vice-President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on George W. Bush...

Banking on the Future

Investing in Smart Water Strategies for Pennsylvania and the Nation...

Louisville’s Eastern Bridge Project is a Taxpayer Waste

Remarks by Erich W. Zimmermann, Policy Analyst Delivered at River Valley Club, Louisville, Kentucky June 3, 2005 Good afternoon, my...

The Gravina Access Project: A Bridge to Nowhere

Recipient of the TCS "Golden Fleece Award in 2003 (Read the award write-up) Project Update (September 2007): After many years of...

Road to Ruin: The 27 Most Wasteful Road Projects in America

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....

Crossroads: Congress, the Corps of Engineers, and the Future of America’s Water Resources

The nation’s largest water management agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is at a crossroads. The Corps is poised to either...

Analysis of Authorized Spending in Energy Bill (2003)

Golden Fleece: $190 Million Bridge to Nowhere

***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

Washington, D.C. - Rep Don Young (R-AK) was awarded the Golden Fleece Award today by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog...

Analysis of Senate Energy Bill of 2003

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...

Analysis HR6 - Energy Policy Act of 2003

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

Terrorism Insurance Giveaway

Following the airline industry's lead, insurance executives have been lobbying Congress for terrorism insurance legislation that will...

Passing the Buck

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

Troubled Waters

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is wasting billions of dollars on environmentally harmful projects, charges a new report by Taxpayers...

Pentagon Follies

How the Department of Defense Is Wasting Your Tax Dollars...

Budget of the Living Dead

How 13 Budget Zombies Are Devouring Your Tax Dollars...

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...