In the News

Analysis: Clipped wings: How essential is Essential Air Service?

The program is called Essential Air Service, and its stated intent is to ensure that small communities distant from regional airport hubs...

River Industry Cites Olmsted Failure in Push for Taxpayer Aid

WASHINGTON • For years, the barge industry has complained that aging locks and dams hike the cost of waterborne cargo and pose an...

Trinity Uptown Bridges in Fort Worth Will Initially Span Dirt, Not Water

FORT WORTH — They’re not exactly bridges to nowhere, but when three new bridges in Fort Worth’s massive Trinity Uptown project are complete...

Critics Pan LIRR Plan to Spend Sandy Cash on Double Track

The Long Island Rail Road wants to spend $300 million in federal Sandy money to complete its Double Track effort between Farmingdale and...

House Makes Proposal for Waterways Projects

A bipartisan group of congressional members has introduced legislation that would change the way billions of dollars of water infrastructure...

Letters to the Editor: Learning the Lessons From Hurricane Sandy

To the Editor: Your editorial about the report from the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force hit the nail on the head: better preparation...

SAVANNAH PORT:  Slowdown Dims Aura of Gaeorgia’s Ports

BRUNSWICK --- More than 635,000 Kias, Toyotas and Caterpillar tractors moved in and out of this brawny port last year. Wood pellets from...

Bloomberg: Wal-Mart Connection Means Taxpayers Pay More for Rogers Airport Tower

Bloomberg yesterday took a look at the Rogers Municipal Airport, home to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s fleet of corporate jets, and finds the...

4 Examples Of Corporate Welfare In Action

While corporations are often painted as the independent drivers of the U.S. economic system, the beacons of small government success aren’t...

Hey Taxpayers, Here’s How You’re Subsidizing Wal-Mart

The operations of an airport in Rogers — a suburban city in Benton County, Arkansas, with a population nearly 56,000 — show the degree to...

National Flood Insurance Program

Taxpayers for Common Sense Vice President Stephen Ellis discusses the National Flood Insurance Program and how a new law is causing rates to...

Congressional Meddling Floods Over

The National Flood Insurance Program is insolvent. By the end of the year, it will likely owe at least $26 billion to the U.S. Treasury...

Wal-Mart Air Fleet Gets Taxpayer Support for Controllers

U.S. taxpayers are increasingly picking up the tab for the control tower at an airport that’s home to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT:US)’s...

Report Calls For Congressional Reform Of River Management Practices

A new report by a coalition of conservation and public interest groups representing the Upper Mississippi River basin is calling on Congress...

Study: New river law should emphasize restoration

A coalition of conservation groups argued Tuesday that a new long-term water resources proposal ought to focus more on restoration of the...

Congress’ Session Ends With a THUD

Several weeks back I predicted that the appropriations season would be a window into Congressional dysfunction. But even accounting for my...

Congress considers clipping rural Montana air service’s wings

The future of rural Montana air service could be in for a bumpy ride when Congress returns to work next month. Federally subsidized...

Transportation bill yields a THUD in the House

The Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill -- THUD for short -- is a $44 billion measure. House leaders put it...

Why Do We Subsidize Inter-City Rail When Buses Can Do the Job?

Liberals love buses — at least when the buses are run by municipally owned enterprises with union workforces and operate at a loss that...

Stem the wealthy’s sweet flood-insurance deal

Tucked into the Department of Homeland Security spending bill the Senate Appropriations Committee approved recently is a nefarious provision...

Rising flood insurance rates a growing fear in Lowcountry

Michael Sally, who works in the real estate business, went on a road trip in May. His destination: Washington, D.C. The purpose: to hear...

Bill would raise flood insurance for some and subsidize others

Tucked into the Department of Homeland Security spending bill the Senate Appropriations Committee approved this week is a nefarious...

Flood insurance changes hit resistance, face delay as premiums are due to spike

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing higher federal flood insurance premiums under reforms passed last year would win a temporary...

Flood Insurance Rates Could Jump for Thousands of Homeowners in Hawaii

More than 13,000 Hawaii property owners — including businesses, owners of vacation homes, and those whose properties have had major problems...

Landrieu inserts controversial flood insurance provision into spending bill

A major battle is unfolding in Congress over the troubled National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The fight pits homeowners in...

D.C. group blasts KABATA as geotech work for bridge begins

This week the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority announced the start of geotechnical work in Anchorage and a national watchdog group gave...

Alaska Ear: We win again

WE WIN AGAIN ... Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan national watchdog organization, has awarded our apparently eternal Knik Arm...

Optimism grows for repairing Western Pennsylvania locks and dams

River industry officials are confident Congress will approve legislation this year that would boost funding for much-needed repairs to...

KABATA announces Government Hill tunnel survey, catches national flak

A critical legislative audit and an attempt at transferring project management has failed to slow down the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll...

Knik Arm Bridge Under Fire From Taxpayer Advocacy Group

Many efforts have been made to find an alternative means of moving people and vehicles from the Mat-Su Valley to Anchorage and points...

National group targets Knik bridge as waste of taxpayer money

A Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group on Wednesday gave its "Golden Fleece" award for frivolous public spending to the Knik Arm bridge...

Coastal lawmakers, fearing rate hikes, cross party lines to keep flood insurance subsidies

Nearly a year after Congress was hailed for moving to fix the debt-ridden flood insurance program, coastal lawmakers are trying to stall key...

Beware of the Beach House Bailout

Six months ago, Hurricane Sandy devastated the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast and, $60 billion dollars later, taxpayers continue to pay...

Making a mess of a road project

State taxpayers, including those in Hampton Roads, are on the hook for as much as $300 million for a highway in Charlottesville that does...

Delay sought on hike in premiums

U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are throwing their support behind a bill to delay steep increases in flood insurance...

Barnum’s beaming: The Greatest bypass on Earth!

Have you ever walked into a store soon after opening hours to find the advertised sale item "all sold out?” Come to the Holiday Inn...

Flood Insurance Amendment Could Lead to More Borrowing, Critics Say

An amendment to water resources legislation that would freeze flood insurance premiums for five years could force the Federal Emergency...

Shelby provision in water bill would benefit state docks

WASHINGTON — Ports that move large amounts of energy resources, including the Port of Mobile, would share a new pot of federal money to...

Bill would stop feared Louisiana levee

WASHINGTON -- The water-projects bill the U.S. Senate passed this week could promote investment in ports and protect the Coast from...

Senate-passed water resources bill includes Mississippi River navigation study

WASHINGTON – A major water resources bill approved Wednesday by the U.S. Senate calls for more public-private partnerships in river and...

Senate votes to extend federal water projects law

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Wednesday put aside its partisan differences to extend the federal government's main water resources law,...

Louisiana lawmakers vow to fight again for flood insurance measure

WASHINGTON — Louisiana’s two senators vowed Tuesday to continue the battle to delay rate hikes in flood insurance policies after a...

McCaskill tackling ‘ghosts of earmarks past’

WASHINGTON • Leave it to senators to create something called the Infrastructure Deauthorization Commission to do a job that they might...

Critics taking aim at water resource bill

WASHINGTON — Environmental and fiscal deficit hawk groups teamed up Monday to criticize the water resources infrastructure bill by Sen....

Senators Reach Deal for First Votes on Water Bill

Senate negotiators reached an agreement Tuesday to phase out the diversion of money from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to offset other...

White House Raises Concerns About Water Bill

The White House registered strong opposition Monday to water resources legislation the Senate is set to take up, saying it doesn't...

Senate to vote today on bill to fund locks, dams, ports

WASHINGTON -- The Senate is poised to vote today to allow construction on locks, dams, ports and other water resources to move forward after...

Port of Rochester funds in U.S. Senate bill

The U.S. Senate is expected to take up a controversial water resources bill this week that boosts the Port of Rochester. U.S. Sen. Kirsten...

Amid budget cutbacks, U.S. shipping sector seeks more federal funds

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - As Congress imposes deep spending cuts on everything from national defense to child care, shipping industry...

DOT nominee’s role in contracts could draw questions

Anthony Foxx promotes clean mass transit on two fronts — as the mayor of Charlotte, N.C., and as an in-house lawyer for a company that makes...

Senate considers measure to spend more on dredging and other water projects

The Senate takes up a controversial water resources bill in the coming week that boosters say would prepare East Coast ports for deeper...

Water infrastructure bill could drain taxpayer dollars with little oversight

The Water Resources Development Act of 2013 gives more than $12 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers - with little oversight It could...

Sequestration and How Not to Govern

Before heading home last week, the Senate and the House passed a sequester work-around to spare us from what had become the most visible...

TCS: FAA budget transfer a “gimmick”

  On Tuesday, President Obama held a wide-ranging White House news conference. He addressed Syria, the Boston Bombings, and Guantanamo...

Washington Notes: U.S. taxpayers footing huge bill for rural airport customers

WASHINGTON - Following another congressional report on waste duplication in the federal government, Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, and Mark...

Political role reversal on the Tennessee Valley Authority

Some Republican lawmakers are criticizing President Obama for suggesting the government consider selling the Tennessee Valley Authority....

Monongahela locks and dams would get $2 million from spending plan

President Barack Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal calls for imposing annual per-vessel fees on the barge industry to pay for an $8...

Homeowner insurance bill hurts taxpayers

This month, Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.Y.) reintroduced legislation that would create a federal backstop for disaster insurance, replacing...

Water bill moving in U.S. Senate ‘like a greased pig’

WASHINGTON • The porcine reference comes from Steve Ellis, of Taxpayers for Common Sense, an advocacy group that pays special attention when...

Morning Transportation

LAST-MINUTE REPRIEVE: Only two days before the FAA was set to end funding for 24 contract towers — the first of three batches that included...

Cutting-edge approach needed to revamp flood insurance, flood risk analysis

WASHINGTON – With the price of flood insurance on the rise and climate change likely to worsen Midwest flooding, a scientific panel wants...

Tiny US airports refuel annually on federal pork

ARDMORE, Okla. -- Along a country road in southern Oklahoma, there is a place that doesn't make sense. It is an airport without...

Bypassing Sense

With $16.4 trillion in U.S. debt and the possible sequester as daily topics in America, our state is on the verge of building a $244 million...

Spiraling down: Why the Bypass will wreck Albemarle

The Taxpayers for Common Sense, in an October report subtitled "Two trillion in common sense cuts to avoid the fiscal cliff," calls the...

The Army Corps of Engineers Excels at Wasting Money

As budget watchdogs, we know that some federal agencies are more wasteful than others in almost every sense. For nearly two centuries, the...

Southland ports could see more tax revenue

WASHINGTON — The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are in an unusual position in today's era of Washington austerity: They could soon...

Little-noticed CR provision may block long-anticipated policy change

New guidelines for selecting and designing federal water projects released by the Obama administration on Friday were praised by...

Dredging backlog could clog Michigan ports

WASHINGTON -- For years, billions in surplus funds from a tax collected to maintain commercial ports and harbors has instead been diverted...

Lawmakers try to shield Army Corps of Engineers from cuts

As the government prepares for years of austerity, a bipartisan group of senators is aiming to give the agency that maintains ports and...

Michele Bachmann pushes for highway project, but steers clear of ‘earmark’ label

A moratorium on congressional earmarks isn’t stopping Rep. Michele Bachmann from pushing for federal funding for a home-state highway. The...

Senate limits debate on the CR

Congress will be knee deep in the Continuing Resolution this week, as lawmakers work to avert a government shutdown. Steve Ellis, vice...

The saddest bit of legislative text we’ve seen all week

"(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS—It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the existing revenue sources for inland waterways system construction and...

Deep in debt, USPS spends millions at business forum

SAN FRANCISCO -- The ailing United States Postal Service is cutting Saturday service and shutting down small town offices to stay afloat....

Bypassing Sense

The Charlottesville Bypass, from just about every angle, is an extraordinary waste of taxpayer funds at a time when the state has no money...

In Oklahoma, tiny airport attracts federal money, but few planes

ARDMORE, Okla. — Along a country road in southern Oklahoma, there is a place that doesn’t make sense. It is an airport without...

Bi-state battle brewing over Bootheel floodway levee plan

 WASHINGTON – Critics call it a “dinosaur project,” a threat to the environment and a waste of money. Proponents describe it as a key...

Decision sought on 60-year-old Missouri wetlands plan

WASHINGTON — An engineering project introduced during the Eisenhower administration may be carried out in the Obama administration, but with...

End of earmarks caused area water projects to dry up

WASHINGTON • For decades, members of Congress used earmarks to direct the Army Corps of Engineers on which water projects to build, and...

Fiscal reform needs accountability, less agency overlap

Government fiscal reform needs to come in the form of accountability, prioritizing by need and training if long term success is to be seen,...

Farmers, environmentalists await seventh analysis of 60-year-old Mississippi levee plan

An engineering project introduced during the Eisenhower administration may be carried out during the Obama administration, but with no more...

Charlottesville This Week - February 2, 2013

At the intersection of politics and road building

Interstate 66, once envisioned as a cross-continent highway from the Potomac to the Pacific, ends in a pile of dirt just past a cloverleaf...

Politics and road building intersect in Kentucky

WASHINGTON --Interstate 66, once envisioned as a cross-continent highway from the Potomac to the Pacific, ends in a pile of dirt just past a...

Coalition Pushing for New National Framework for Disasters

A coalition of national interests has introduced a framework intended to shape how the nation responds to natural disasters, or as one...

Group Says Western Bypass Not Worth the Cost

The Route 29 Western Bypass is not worth taxpayers’ money. That was the message from a group of the road’s opponents A group gathered at...

Opponents of Route 29 Western Bypass Speak Out

NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather The proposed Route 29 Western Bypass has been a heated topic of debate for many...

What’s coming up in Charlottesville the week of 1/21

Each week, the news team takes a look at upcoming meetings and events in Charlottesville and Albemarle we think you should know about....

Will HUD, Amtrak, Ohio get in on Hurricane Sandy relief action?

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress don't want to appear insensitive (again) to the post-disaster needs of New Jersey and New York. Their...

N.C. lawmaker launches legislative debate over sand-pumping projects

A North Carolina lawmaker has fired the opening shot in a bid to extend the federal government's commitment to pumping sand onto beaches to...

Electric Motorcycle Maker Gets Home-State Help in Tax Deal

(Updates with comments by Zero Motorcycle executive starting in 18th paragraph.) Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The fine print of Congress’s Jan. 1...

Congress Aids Oregon Electric Motorcycle Maker in Budget

The fine print of Congress’s Jan. 1 budget deal includes a tax credit rewritten by Oregon lawmakers to benefit home-state motorcycle...

Sandy’s impact underscores need for national mitigation strategy

One hundred and eleven homes burned to the ground in Queens, flooding in parts of Manhattan forced the financial markets and subways to...

Sandy relief bill gets add-ons to lure GOP votes

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate's $60.4 billion superstorm Sandy relief bill contains more than $20 million for Alaska's fisheries and $188...

Porked-up Sandy relief bill storms into Senate

The Senate’s emergency spending bill to cover costs from Hurricane Sandy includes millions of dollars that will never touch the affected...

Some Spending in Sandy ‘Emergency’ Bill Doesn’t Start Until 2018

Republican senators like Arizona’s Jon Kyl and Alabama’s Jeff Sessions have objected to the large Hurricane Sandy relief package. President...

Sand dunes spare NJ homes from Sandy’s destruction

(CBS News) LONG BEACH ISLAND, N.J. - Six weeks after superstorm Sandy, FEMA said more than half a million homeowners want federal help....

Barge Lines Want U.S. to Pay Costs of River Improvements

The threat to barge traffic posed by low water levels on the Mississippi River portends more disruptions if the U.S. government doesn’t pay...

After the Storm, New Questions Arise

To the Editor: Re “Resisted for Blocking the View, Dunes Prove They Blunt Storms” (front page, Dec. 4): Senators Charles E. Schumer and...

Fight Over Ferry Prompts Questions on Definition of Earmarks

To its critics, the S.S. Badger is a relic and a menace, a coal-fired car ferry that dumps tons of raw coal ash into Lake Michigan each year...

Columbia River Crossing Bridge knocked by taxpayer group

The watchdog taxpayer group, Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), has included the Columbia River Crossing Bridge in its list of what it terms...

When to Stay and When to Go

Blanket federal spending after disasters can lead to rebuilding that isn’t in the best interest of the community, the state or the nation....

Congress could renew debate on flood reforms, building codes as NFIP seeks funds after Sandy

By Sean P. Carr   Reaching agreement on a five-year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program took several years. In the...

After Sandy: Reassessing the Nation’s Flood Fund

By Jennifer Scholtes, CQ Staff Until a week ago, it looked as if Congress had acted in the nick of time this summer to save the...

NFIP May Need Additional Borrowing Authority Post-Sandy

Written By: Arthur D. Postal The National Flood Insurance Program will likely need to go to Congress for additional borrowing authority...

Sandy to test revamped federal flood insurance program

By: Roberta Rampton Superstorm Sandy is threatening to drag the U.S. government's debt-ridden flood insurance program back into the...

Missing info made for weak points

By: Dennis Roooker In the Oct. 21 Daily Progress, George Will’s column included the following: “America’s bold premise is the possibility...

Costly aftermath? Another battering for homeowners

New Jersey is not Florida North quite yet. But the widespread wreckage left by Sandy, the nor’easter-tropical storm hybrid that...

Costly aftermath? Insurance rates may soar in aftermath of Sandy

New Jersey is not Florida North quite yet. But the widespread wreckage left by Sandy, the nor’easter-tropical storm hybrid that...

The Cost of Natural Disasters, By the Numbers

By Amy Harder   As Washington approaches the fiscal cliff and looks to save money in every budgetary corner it can find, experts are...

Who will pay to rebuild after Sandy?

How will New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority pay for major damage to aging track, stations and equipment in the flooded...

In Areas Hit By Sandy, Lawmakers Ask U.S. to Pay The Whole Cost

"This was not a New York disaster, or a New Jersey disaster or a Connecticut disaster, but a national disaster, and FEMA and the federal...

In areas hit by Sandy, lawmakers ask U.S. to pay the whole cost

By Richard Simon WASHINGTON — Uncle Sam is picking up the full cost of providing emergency power and public transportation in areas hard...

Western bypass a waste of money

By: Randy Salzman | Charlottesville The Taxpayers for Common Sense, in an October report titled “Sliding Past Sequestration: Two trillion...

It’s Back: SmarterSafer.org Leads Effort To Oppose New Federal Beach House Bailout Proposal

It's Back: SmarterSafer.org Leads Effort To Oppose New Federal Beach House Bailout Proposal SmarterSafer.org - a coalition of leading...

ASK JEFF : A highway funding crossroads

ASK JEFF : A highway funding crossroads Jeff Rea Companies continue to find Indiana a good place to do business. Two key reasons are...

Letter: Fixing Existing Roads Real Priority

Letter: Fixing Existing Roads Real Priority By: Frank Newman An excellent article in the Washington Post on Oct. 3 pointed out the need...

Group’s goal is to curb harmful, wasteful spending

Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2012 Dear EarthTalk: What is the "Green Scissors" campaign, which I understand can help the environment and has...

Schumer Hints at More Medicare Cuts

Schumer Hints at More Medicare Cuts By Brianna Ehley Pub Date: Oct 10, 2012   As part of a “grand bargain” to avoid the fiscal cliff...

Western Bypass Named Among Eight Most Wasteful Projects In U.S.

By: Rob Graham A recently released report is giving ammunition to opponents of the western bypass. It comes from a group called "Taxpayers...

Managing the Pain of Likely Cuts

With spending cuts looming and lawmakers eyeing major entitlement and tax reform in the coming months and years, no sector--transportation...

$11.4 Billion Cut in Federal Transportation Spending Recommended

$11.4 Billion Cut in Federal Transportation Spending Recommended Pub Date: Oct 09, 2012 Written By: Larry Ehl The fiscal cliff and...

Taxpayers against the Bypass

Taxpayers against the Bypass Pub Date: Oct 02, 2012   In a new report, “Sliding Past Sequestration,” Taxpayers for Common Sense have...

You can reduce the deficit without touching entitlements. But that won’t make it more popular.

You can reduce the deficit without touching entitlements. But that won’t make it more popular. The Washington Post Posted by Suzy Khimm...

Ryan Alexander, Taxpayers for Common Sense, discusses how the U.S. could avoid the fiscal cliff with cuts almost twice the size of sequestration.

How to Avoid Fiscal Cliff With Less Pain CNBC Mon 01 Oct 12 | 04:50 PM ET Ryan Alexander, Taxpayers for Common Sense, discusses how the...

National budget watchdog group takes aim at Colubia River Crossing project

National budget watchdog group takes aim at Columbia River Crossing project By: Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian Tuesday, October 02,...

Yank CRC funding, federal budget watchdog urges

A federal budget watchdog this week targeted the Columbia River Crossing among a long list of projects and programs it says should be axed...

How to cut $2 trillion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense

How to cut $2 trillion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense Washington Business Journal Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 6:20am...

Fiscal Cliff: Candidates Fiddle While America Does a Slow Burn

Fiscal Cliff: Candidates Fiddle While America Does a Slow Burn October 2, 2012   “Continued split government is just one reason to...

Taxpayer group maps out an escape plan for 2013’s ‘fiscal cliff’

Taxpayer group maps out an escape plan for 2013's 'fiscal cliff' By Erik Wasson - 10/01/12 12:42 PM ET   The nonpartisan Taxpayers for...

US group urges $2 trillion alternative to fiscal cliff “time bomb”

US  group urges 2 trillion altenative to fiscal cliff "time bomb" By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON | Sun Sep 30, 2012 4:55pm EDT (Reuters)...

Bipartisan “Green Scissors” Campaign Aims to Save the Environment—and Taxpayer Dollars

By Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss Dear EarthTalk: What is the “Green Scissors” campaign, which I understand can help the environment and has...

Green Scissors for Congress

When you’re in a hole, you stop digging. And when you’ve got a $1.3-trillion deficit and $15.7 trillion in debt, you’ve got to start...

Greening the Federal Budget - and Saving a Bundle

June 27, 2012 -- A leading environmental group, a centrist taxpayer watchdog and a libertarian small-government think tank on Tuesday...

Syria: Excuse 535 To Not Cut the Deficit

Volume XVIII No. 37 Possible action in Syria has become the most recent excuse du jour for Pentagon boosters...