Our Take

Senate Appropriations Committee Announces Earmark Moratorium

Today, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) announced a two year moratorium on earmarks. The call comes after...

Legislation Introduced to end Reverse Royalty for Hardrock Mining

Last week, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced legislation to eliminate an unnecessary giveaway for mining companies that cost...

TCS on State of the Union: Every Dollar Must be on the Table

Taxpayers for Common Sense statement on the 2011 State of the Union address.                For...

UPDATE: Gates Shifts Defense Dollars

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today gave what was billed as one of the longest speeches in his current job, defining the battlefield for...

CUT-PAYGO-Lite and Other House Rules Changes

There have been a lot of questions swirling around the Cut-As-You-Go (CUTGO) provision that the House Republicans included in the rules...

OP-ED: MCMAHON & ALEXANDER: Corn pork in the tax bill (The Washington Times)

Ethanol funds don't help farmers or the environment A handful of farm-state senators were once again able to funnel ethanol subsidies...

Holiday Honey Baked Hams—Special Interest Carveouts at the End of the Year

(Originally Posted 12/13/2010) The last legislative trains are pulling out of Capitol Hill station and there are a bunch of hobo...

Deficit Commission Releases its Final Report—The Moment of Truth

So the "The Moment of Truth" is here. We've been combing through the specifics of the aptly titled final report of the National...

Congressional Briefing on Department of Energy Loan Guarantees

(Update 9/30/2010) Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense participated in a discussion on whether taxpayers should bear the risks for the...

A Transportation Earmark is Still an Earmark

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) told a local newspaper this week that she supports a ban on earmarks – but then turned around and said that...

Engineering Boondoggles

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