Earlier this week, we looked at who has accumulated the biggest piles of debt issued by the U.S. federal government. But which of these players do you suppose is loaning the U.S. government the most money today? Political Calculations found some surprising results: Even though the Federal Reserve has been reducing its purchases of…
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Every five years, the federal departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services convene the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The DGAC mission is to make sound nutritional recommendations based on the best scientific research. Unfortunately as Independent Institute Research Fellow Ernest Pasour notes, in recent years, the DGAC has conscripted nutritional concerns in the…
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Michael Botticelli, the federal “drug czar” and adviser to Barack Obama, wants to spend $25 billion next year to fight drugs. A report to Congress from the drug czar’s office said, “we must seek to avoid oversimplified debates between the idea of a war on drugs and the notion of legalization as a panacea.”…
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Who are the major holders of debt issued by the U.S. federal government going into the summer of 2014? The answers are revealed in the chart below! Political Calculations observes: On the whole, there haven’t been many changes since our previous edition. We see that the debt reported to be held by Belgium is…
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The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has issued its Long-Term Budget Outlook for 2014. Compared to previous reports, it projects a slightly worse outlook for the nation’s fiscal situation, which results from the CBO’s new assessment that the U.S. economy’s potential for stronger economic growth in the future is lacking. The Washington Examiner‘s Joseph Lawler…
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The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is an unelected body that overrides the elected governments of coastal counties and cities on land use and property rights issues. The Commission wields enormous clout, but for more than 30 years it has lobbied for the power to levy fines directly, instead of going through the courts. As…
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The problems plaguing the Department of Veterans Affairs are deep and systemic. New evidence has come to light indicating that the cancer of corruption and incompetence permeating the VA is even deeper than we knew. The Huffington Post reports: The scandal-plagued Department of Veterans Affairs is systematically overpaying clerks, administrators and other support staff,…
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Already at stratospheric levels, your federal government costs have gone up $3.7 billion, the amount U.S. President Barack Obama wants to address the massive influx of more than 50,000 unaccompanied minors. This new imposition on embattled American taxpayers flows from the ruling-class notion that the United States must be wet-nurse to the world. If…
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The Associated Press reports that for the fifth year in a row, the amount of checks that the U.S. federal government has acknowledged that it has improperly paid out has exceeded $100 billion: WASHINGTON (AP) — By its own estimate, the government made about $100 billion in payments last year to people who may…
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Readers of this column know that the federal government wastes a lot of taxpayers’ money. How much? Last year, by its own estimate, the government sent out $100 billion in improper payments. In fact, as Rep. John Mica explained, “It’s over $100 billion each of the last five years. That’s a staggering half a…
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