On Monday, March 6, 2017, a federal judge awarded $2.5 million to a military veteran who was denied timely medical care at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. The Arizona Republic‘s Jacques Billeaud reports on the results of the civil trial in federal court. A judge on Monday awarded $2.5 million…
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In 2009, as part of President Obama’s signature economic policy that was passed into law as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is more popularly known as the “stimulus package,” President Obama dedicated some $7 billion for the express purpose of improving academically failing schools through School Improvement Grants (SIG). In order to…
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The National Institutes of Health boasts a 2017 budget of $33.1 billion, up $825 million from 2016. In the coming year, the massive federal agency will support 36,440 research grants, an increase of 600 from 2016. As Claudia Buck notes in the Sacramento Bee, the NIH will give $2.3 million to University of…
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President Obama has signed the United States Appreciation for Olympians and Paralympians Act, which “eliminates a tax penalty imposed by the Internal Revenue Service on medals or other prizes awarded to Team USA athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” according to a press release from Bob Dold (R-IL). Olympic athletes with adjusted gross…
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Last year an independent audit revealed that the City of Sacramento, California’s capital, had overpaid city retirees by $2.8 million. The overpayments, which had been going on since 2005, prompted the Sacramento Bee to editorialize that “a mistake can balloon into sizable money,” citing a $60 million gap between projected payouts and expected revenue…
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As we noted in March, the Sacramento headquarters of the California State Board of Equalization, known among reporters as a “24-story money pit,” sprung two leaks during heavy rains. Floors 10 and 22 both had a history of leaks and other troubles, but these were apparently unaddressed, despite more than 20 reports calling for…
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In light of the ongoing drought, Californians are grateful for the storms that have been pounding the Golden State. It’s a slightly different story, however, down at the Sacramento headquarters of the state Board of Equalization. As Jon Ortiz notes in the Sacramento Bee the “24-story money pit” sprung two leaks during recent heavy…
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With newspapers in decline, stories about government waste, fraud and abuse tend to get short shrift. One notable exception is Jon Ortiz of the Sacramento Bee, whose “State Worker” columns demonstrate how waste works. For example, California’s Board of Equalization, a tax agency, wanted to replace a door. The initial cost for that simple…
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While millions around the world watched the Academy Awards on February 28, Brian Lamb of C-SPAN was hosting Thomas Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. The interview confirmed that when it comes to wasting taxpayers’ money, government bureaucrats are endlessly creative. Lamb recalled the first Golden Fleece award in 1975, a project of…
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California governor Jerry Brown is in a mood for spending. As Jon Ortiz and Dale Kasler note in the Sacramento Bee, his 2016-17 budget includes “a $1.5 billion infrastructure plan that would also remodel a portion of the Capitol.” The governor has “proposed transferring $1.5 billion from the state’s general fund to a new…
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