Our Take

A Legacy for Earmarks (updated 11/14/2011)

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today passed its version of a transportation reauthorization bill, to replace the...

Transportation Reauthorization: Congress Needs to Pay to Pave

Both the House and Senate are poised to begin deliberations over different versions of transportation reauthorization legislation. Though...

Uranium Loan Guarantee Is A Bad Bet

Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantees are and should be under the magnifying glass. On August 31, 2011, the first company to receive...

California’s Rail Project Costs More Than Double

According to a business plan released by the California High Speed Rail Authority this week, the costs for a high speed rail connection...

Solyndra Probe Continues

Today the House continued its investigation of the failed Department of Energy loan guarantee to the solar start-up Solyndra. Today...

It’s Time to Rethink the Stillwater Bridge

Taxpayers for Common Sense Action sent a letter to the House Natural Resources Commitee in advance of its markup of a related bill, H.R....

Deal May Increase Transportation Spending, But at What Cost?

Updated 9/28/2011 Reports of a meeting between House Republican leadership and Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chair of the Transportation and...

Clock Ticking Only On Some of the Risky DOE Loan Guarantees

Today, a portion of the Dept. of Energy Loan Guarantee Program will expire. While that’s good news for taxpayers the trouble is far from...

The American Jobs Act: Concerns mount over President’s Infrastructure Bank proposal

On Tuesday, September 12th, the Obama Administration released the text of the “American Jobs Act” which includes $447 billion in tax...

House and Senate Craft Disappointing Extension of Surface Transportation, FAA Programs

After negotiations between majority leaders in the House and Senate, a bill was introduced that would extend the surface transportation...

Engineering Boondoggles

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