What's Happening in Increase Transparency

Ethics Committee Ignores Earmark Problems

The House Ethics Committee today closed their investigation into ties between campaign donation to seven lawmakers and earmarks to the...

Bailout Bank Bio: Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup continues to be one of the largest recipients of taxpayer assistance under TARP (the financial industry bailout). Citigroup is...

TCS Earmark Analysis and Proposal for Reform

The traditional partisan earmark split was maintained. Of earmarks requested by only Republicans or only Democrats, the old 60/40...

Troop Surge Dollars Must be Watched

Since President Obama announced a 30,000 troop buildup for Afghanistan Tuesday, everyone is asking the inevitable question: How much is...

House Office Expenditures Available Electronically

The U.S. House of Representatives has taken one more step toward transparency with the inaugural publication of an electronic version of...

Dollars Fly Overseas to Military Bases

The annual military construction spending bill is not generally a big deal for Congress, which treats it as an opportunity to fund gyms...

Make the Contractor Performance Database Available to the Public

After years of debate, taxpayers are close to finally getting a federal contractor misconduct database that should stop their money from...

Watchdogs to Defense Secretary Gates: Tell Congress Earmarks Cannot be Tolerated

Government watchdogs yesterday sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urging him to make it unmistakably clear to Congress...

Senators Deliver Earmark Cash for Campaign Contributors

Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) has cross-referenced earmarks sought and obtained by Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee members...

Bailout Transparency Continues to Fall Short

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) just released its eighth report on TARP, this one a look back over the life of the program. ...

Engineering Boondoggles

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