Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending.

Doomsday Debt Clock

July 21, 2011 | Budget & Tax , National Security

Eleven days and counting. Then the debt ceiling clock strikes midnight and the federal budget turns into a pumpkin. Bottom line is the... Read More

Bombers Away

July 14, 2011 | Budget & Tax , National Security

Anyone following the House of Representatives' recent debate over defense spending could be forgiven for thinking defense has fallen off... Read More

Debt Limit Double Talk

July 07, 2011 | Budget & Tax

The President and Congressional Republicans have been throwing down gauntlets for weeks over the debt limit vote. Demands are flying: No... Read More

Panetta’s Proving Ground

June 29, 2011 | Budget & Tax , National Security

Defense Secretary Robert Gates will fly away from the Pentagon today leaving behind a position that his former boss, President George W.... Read More

Popping the Gas Balloon

June 23, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy

Momentum is a powerful legislative force – once a bill starts swirling the bowl, it’s only a matter of time before it goes down. More... Read More

Surveying Spending

Washington’s in the thick of its summer spending season. You can be forgiven if it feels like we just finished the painful process of... Read More

Repair Priorities

Anybody that’s owned a house knows that keeping up with the maintenance is critical. Patching a small hole in the roof now is a heck of a... Read More

Just Say No to Ethanol

June 02, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy

A long-standing axiom for Presidential aspirants has been to kiss the ring of ethanol if you want to have any chance of doing well in the... Read More

Defending Earmarks

As earmark moratoria fever swept across the Capitol a few months ago, we applauded, and promised to keep a watchful eye on what... Read More

Running on Fumes

The nation’s surface transportation system is – pun very much intended – running on fumes. One in nine of our bridges is structurally... Read More

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