Weekly Wastebasket

Everything must go: the federal government is selling our public lands and public resources at bargain-basement prices

Nov 13, 2026|

Our Take

A proposal to change where and how companies drill for oil and gas in the NPR-A could saddle taxpayers with costly liabilities from high-risk projects

Nov 13, 2026|

Our Take

Weaker standards would mean more wasted gas.

Oct 30, 2026|

Our Take

Two new economic reports show how tariffs have raised prices, including on American-made goods, and why those costs can linger.

Oct 15, 2026|

RECENT POSTS

Taxpayers for Common Sense

Protecting taxpayers from government waste since 1995.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“With the hotter, drier, longer wildfire seasons and the near doubling of homes in the wildland-urban interface, the federal government is now spending 10 times more on suppressing wildfires than it did 30 years ago. It is vital to suppress wildfires that threaten people and property, but a pure suppression approach ignores the fire paradox: The more fires are suppressed, the more fuels accumulate; the more fuels accumulate, the larger and more destructive fires become.”

— Coalition of former USDA and DOI officials, sharing concerns on the proposal before Congress to transfer U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management to the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service.

Agriculture

Agriculture

Washington wastes billions of taxpayer dollars annually on inefficient and outdated agriculture policies that do not address the realities of 21st-century agriculture, modern economies, or our nation’s current financial challenges.

Budget & Tax

Budget & Tax

Budget, tax, and spending decisions are about more than numbers, they are reflections of our priorities.

Disaster

Disaster

Taxpayers for Common Sense advocates for smarter use of taxpayer dollars by promoting pre-disaster investments, reforming programs like the National Flood Insurance Program, and scrutinizing federal emergency management practices.

Energy & Natural Resources

Energy & Natural Resources

We work to bring transparency to federal land and asset management, and to push Congress and Administrations to establish rents, royalties, and fees for private development of public land so taxpayers receive a fair return.

National Security

National Security

We monitor presidential, agency, and congressional spending requests, looking for duplications, over budget and unaffordable weapons systems, and projects driven by parochial or industry concerns rather than by sound security strategy.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Transportation & Infrastructure

Taxpayers for Common Sense opposes projects where the national benefit doesn’t outweigh the cost and advocates for a fix-it-first approach. We work to shift more of the financial costs and risks off federal taxpayers and onto the actual project beneficiaries themselves.