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Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending.

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The Weekly Wastebasket is our e-commentary on a specific wasteful government program or proposal along with our solutions, read by thousands of Congressional and agency staff, journalists and editorial writers, bloggers and activists.
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    Dud Defense

    June 14, 2013

    National Security

    The House of Representatives closed out the week by adopting their fiscal year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act. And while the... Read More

    Dud Defense

Recent Weekly Wastebasket Articles

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Flood Insurance Fiasco

June 07, 2013 | Budget & Tax , Natural Resources

Flood Insurance Fiasco Volume XVIII No. 23: You can’t get something for nothing. Congress often forgets that. We saw it this week with some lawmakers hell... Read More

What, Me Worry?

May 31, 2013 | Budget & Tax

What, Me Worry? Volume XVIII No. 22: Americans could be forgiven if it seems that the nation’s capital has been infiltrated by an army of Alfred E.... Read More

Harvesting Even More from Crop Insurance

Harvesting Even More from Crop Insurance Volume XVIII No. 21: This week’s Wastebasket is part two of two. Last week, we analyzed the “Rear View Farm Bill” being considered in... Read More

Rear View Farm Bill

May 17, 2013 | Agriculture

Rear View Farm Bill Volume XVIII No. 20: This week’s Wastebasket is part one of two. Stay tuned next week for more about how Washington can save taxpayer... Read More

Pork Floats

Pork Floats Volume XVIII No. 19: Congressional pressure to pass a massive bill chock full of new water projects has gotten to the point that the... Read More

Sandy at Six Months

Sandy at Six Months Volume XVIII No. 18: Sandy came roaring into New York and New Jersey six months ago this week. It’s been almost four months since... Read More

MOX Not Populi

April 26, 2013 | Earmarks & Appropriations , Energy

MOX Not Populi Volume XVIII No. 17: Just how far will a member of Congress go to protect his pork? We’ve seen a lot of funny stuff over the years, but... Read More

Food (Aid) Fight

April 19, 2013 | Agriculture

Food (Aid) Fight Volume XVIII No. 16: In his fiscal year 2014 budget request, the President called for reforms to the international food aid system. ... Read More

Budgetpalooza

April 12, 2013 | Budget & Tax

Budgetpalooza Volume XVIII No. 15: Two months late, the president’s budget request joins the separately adopted House and Senate budget resolutions.... Read More

Binge Budgeting

April 05, 2013 | Budget & Tax

Binge Budgeting Despite all the bellyaching over sequestration, Washington is doing little to change the federal spending diet that brought us to this... Read More