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Political Hay
Mike Coffman Gets It
A House Republican is helping colleagues overcome their sequesterphobia.
As a Republican member of Congress whose mixed-in-every-way Colorado district includes Aurora, suburbs of Denver, and a large Air Force Base, Mike Coffman has long argued that the nation must make cuts in the Defense Department budget.
This week, Coffman will propose legislation to cut $500 billion from defense spending over the next decade through a range of 15 measures that include reducing programs “which do not contribute significantly to military capability,” using local civilian contractors instead of military personnel for “commercial-type activities at military bases,” lowering bureaucratic head count through attrition, and reducing the number of U.S. troops stationed in Europe.
This man is no RINO, and no naïf on defense issues. In addition to having an American Conservative Union ranking of 95 in his four years in Congress and serving on the House Armed Services Committee, Coffman has served in both the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps (in active duty and reserve capacities in each).
He volunteered to join the Army when he was 17 years old. And in more recent years Coffman voluntarily gave up safe, comfortable jobs in Colorado government, both while serving as a legislator and later as State Treasurer, to serve in combat in Kuwait and later helping to establish local governments in Iraq.
Today, Rep. Coffman believes — or at least hopes — that the sequester gives him “leverage to try to get these reforms done.” He doesn’t have illusions that his reforms will pass in the roughly 100 hours before the sequester hits, but rather that over coming months he will be able to pass, whether as amendments or stand-alone legislation, changes that replace across-the-board cuts with specific cuts aimed to save nearly as much money.
Responding to an inquiry for this article, Coffman explained: “The greatest threat to our national security is our unsustainable debt. We need to reduce government spending in all areas to include defense. The problem with sequestration is that it cuts Defense across-the-board regardless whether a program is vital to our national security or is something that should have been eliminated a long time ago. As a Marine Corps combat veteran and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I know that we can take a more pragmatic approach to cutting defense spending without compromising national security.”
Coffman holds the least safe seat in Colorado following a 2012 redistricting that removed heavily Republican areas and added Democratic-leaning areas to the state’s 6th Congressional District. With the district housing Buckley Air Force Base and many defense technology companies, it takes particular courage and subtlety for Coffman to thread the sequester issue needle. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is already running cynical web ads — after all, the defense part of sequestration is the only part they like — trying to tar Coffman with the sequester if it causes layoffs in defense-related businesses in the district. They are preparing to spend money on TV ads, aiming to beat Coffman in 2014 following the announcement that former Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Andrew Romanoff, will run for the seat.
Coffman has been for cutting defense spending since before it was cool, at least among Republicans. So while some may suggest that his proposal is an attempt to appear moderate because of his political situation, in fact Coffman has been singing this tune for several years.
When I interviewed Coffman on my radio show in December 2010, he discussed how our “top-heavy” military sometimes acts “as if their mission is supporting the Pentagon” rather than projecting American power. He noted that the Navy “has more admirals than ships.” And, then as now, he questioned the need for having so many U.S. troops overseas as well as addressing the need to address defense pork. He’s not the first to say it, but Coffman is absolutely right: “I don’t see defense as a jobs program.” Great policy but dangerous politics.
While Coffman has said that he opposes the sequester in its current structure, he consistently supports the “right sizing of our defense budget.” Too many Republicans, however, at least until recent days, have been sequester Chicken Littles, adding their voices to ridiculous claims that the sequester must reduce national security, giving credence to the Navy’s own version of the Washington Monument strategy in which it is keeping an aircraft carrier in port instead of sending it to the Persian Gulf.
As Byron York points out, the sequester’s cuts “are only to the rate of growth for the defense budget in coming years. They are not actual cuts that make spending decline…[D]efense spending will increase in every year, even with sequestration cuts.”
There are Republicans, especially the most unkosher pork fiends such as Senator Thad Cochran (MS), who refuse to cut defense spending even for obviously wasteful projects because they fear it will impact jobs in their states or districts. There may be a few — Mitt Romney certainly pretended to be in this camp — who believe that our defense needs require ever-growing military spending, that there was almost no ability to save substantially within current DoD expenditures. (The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol is apparently still in that camp, but then he was also the one who said on Fox News Sunday during the fiscal cliff debate that Republicans should “take Obama’s offer” to raise taxes on upper-income Americans.)
And particularly during the initial onset of Republican sequesterphobia, complaining about the pending cuts was a mindless reaction from politicians who believe that being Republican means never having to say you’re sorry for a dollar spent at the Pentagon.
At least, even those members’ errors were not due to the cynical assumption of American stupidity embodied by Democrats talking about cutting air traffic controllers and meat inspectors, teachers and policemen, federal prosecutors and disaster relief. In a dubious pantheon of Democrat scare tactics, perhaps the most cynical was Monday’s implication by Janet “Big Sis” Napolitano that the sequester raises the risk of a terrorist attack on American soil.
Republicans must be careful not to argue flatly against any cuts to the defense budget. They must not make the same mistake that Mitt Romney and others made during the 2012 elections when they criticized President Obama for cutting Medicare, when the real criticism should have been that cuts to Medicare were wasted in the sink hole of Obamacare. In other words, Republicans must not box themselves out of being able to support critically needed future budget cuts by complaining when, even if by accident, Obama cuts spending in some part of government.
About the Author
Ross Kaminsky is a self-employed trader and investor and is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute. He is the host of The Ross Kaminsky Show on Denver’s NewsRadio 850 KOA at 11 AM on most Sundays. You can reach Ross by e-mail at rossputin(at)rossputin(dot)com.
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Jacob McCandles| 2.26.13 @ 8:24AM
Everything is background noise until congress decides to man up on entitlements. I am not confident because the democrats will never, ever, do the right thing. Sure we could cut some defense, but its a drop in the bucket, and why bother when the real problem continues to be ignored?
Purp| 2.26.13 @ 2:02PM
You don't cut your way to prosperity, never have, never will. Every businessman knows you have to spend money to make more money.
And certainly not by taking money out of the hands of people living on a small income that spend all their money just to live, which helps keep other people working.
We could easily balance the budget every year by closing a number of tax loopholes only the Romneys of the world can use to pay nothing in tax, cutting a bit from defense, and reforming the way Medicare pays for services and means testing for both Medicare and Social Security.
This touches everyone's Ox, so everyone shares in the burden, but it is doable - Now, go tell the stupid Republicans in the House to get moving.
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 2:11PM
You don't cut your way to prosperity, never have, never will. Every businessman knows you have to spend money to make more money.
Every businessman (in the light electronics manufacturing sector) also knows, that to have the effect of a 1 dollar cut in expenses on profit, the business has to generate 20 dollars in new revenue. Other sectors have a different ratio, but the concept is the same. Your "can't cut to prosperity," meme is BS.
With government spending...it's worse. ALL government spending is negative in the short and mid-terms...because the government must first take the money from producers. It then takes its "cut" before sending it back into the economy. Government spending is ALWAYS inefficient. Adults understand this. Children & Liberals/Statists don't.
JD| 2.26.13 @ 3:37PM
"You don't cut your way to prosperity, never have, never will. Every businessman knows you have to spend money to make more money."
You are right - we can't cut our way to prosperity. Yet Leftists have been cutting private wealth for generations by seizing it all for government use. The only money that government has to spend is taken from business. Businesses have more money when you cut what government spends.
CJW| 2.26.13 @ 3:51PM
Purpie the Village Idiot posted:
1. "Hurricane Sandy and Chris Christie was the Lord's way of pressing his thumb on the scale to tilt in the direction of President Obama. It was His punishment of Republicans for their lying and trying to cheat (Voter Suppression) their way to political victory, while espousing faith, freedom and constitutional credentials."
2. purpie believes God killed over 100 persons and destroyed millions of dollars of property to help Obama win.
3. In Sept Purpie wrote that Amassador Stevens was at fault and caused his death.
4. Purpie also wrote that the unborn are biological entities not deserving of protection until God allows them to be born.
5. purpie believes that a 20% cut in the tax rate will INCREASE his 0% rate to 8%.
6. purpie also posted one of the female bloggers here should just lay back and enjoy the rape.
Purp-arnie represents the Loon Left that should be mocked and ridiculed, and not engaged in conversation
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 6:10PM
Really, Purp: the tobacco companies make money by relentlessly cutting cost to produce product.
Spending money efficiently matters. I'm happy to see Defense money cut if we close unnecessary bases and beef up what we need to.
My concern about Army cuts is that we will cut our numbers of front-line infantry, which at 100,000 is already too few. My fear is that we will cut WRONGLY.
c. j. acworth| 2.26.13 @ 8:31AM
I'd like to see some details of Coffman's plan. For example, the article mentions the trrops overseas. I assume this means those in European and Asian bases. Google "US military bases in Germany", and you get a list as long as your arm. Do we really need so many? Are we still afraid of a Russian invasion?
Ross Kaminsky| 2.26.13 @ 11:37AM
Coffman specifically mentions Europe on his web site, though he mentioned Europe and Korea in my radio interview with him in 2010.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 1:42PM
You do realize that - and I could be wrong on this number - most of the DOD Budget is spent on Human Resources. ie - Pay, Housing, Clothing, Health Care, Food, and Retirement of its Personnel.
Weapons Systems is a Small Amount.
If I'm wrong?
I am not afraid of being corrected.
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 1:51PM
You are absolutely correct. We are paying a higher than normal "materials" cost right now because of the current dustup....ammunition, food & refurb of combat equipment...resetting the PREPO sites/ships.
Nancy in NC| 2.26.13 @ 8:37AM
My husband served in the USMC for 26 years. He could write a book on the waste and abuse, and the USMC is frugal. The Army and Air Force are really wasteful and spend money like drunken sailors (my apology to drunken sailors).
There is plenty to be cut in the defense department, and it needs to be started at the top...right at the Pentagon which is bloated with those on the government teat. Ike talked about the "military industrial complex" and we have seen its fruition. The ties between private industry and the government are just so cozy. Why do so many go from the military straight to Lockheed Martin, etc. after retiring? Inside connections anyone?
Drunken Sailor| 2.26.13 @ 10:18AM
Apology accepted. But your hubby is right (did I just admit a Marine was right?), there is a lot of waste that could easily be cut.
Congress could learn a thing or two from drunken sailors. At least they only spend their own money and quite spending when that is gone.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 1:44PM
Who do you want working at Lockheed Martin?
Farmers?
Nancy in NC| 2.26.13 @ 8:42AM
A friend of mind was recently at a Westin hotel in one of the Southern states. She found it strange that the parking lot was empty when she had been told the hotel was full. After questioning staff, she discovered the hotel is "booked" to provide for the military to use if they needed the rooms.
I have no idea how many rooms were at the Westin, but at a $100 bucks a night, we are talking about real money. What a sweet deal for the owner of the hotel.
Of course, this is ancedotal, but how many times is that same scanrio repeated all over the country? Unfortunately only the little people will suffer from the sequester cuts, and the Westin guy will still get his $10,000 a day courtesy of the taxpayer.
You can't make this crap up.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 1:45PM
Agreed.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.26.13 @ 8:42AM
"When I interviewed Coffman on my radio show in December 2010, he discussed how our 'top-heavy' military sometimes acts 'as if their mission is supporting the Pentagon' rather than projecting American power. He noted that the Navy 'has more admirals than ships.'”
There was a time when having a top heavy military made sense in peace time. In support of the theory that it takes much longer to train leaders than it does followers, many officers (above company grade in particular) were kept busy in staff jobs which were make work projects that could be quickly shelved as the balloon went up, and these officers could then moved to leadership cadre positions as the race to quickly fill in the ranks at the lower end took place.
As our military has become more tech heavy, and less dependent on large volumes of lightly trained infantry, this approach merits review, to insure that we have defense personnel management which enhances the ability to adapt to the next war, as well as the ones we fought in the middle of the 20th century.
Bob K| 2.26.13 @ 11:22AM
Admirals are in charge of DOD procurement agencies like the one in Philadelphia. I think this is what Ike was talking about.
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 12:48PM
There was a time when having a top heavy military made sense in peace time.
We solved that problem by integrating the National Guard and the Reserves into all of our warplans. It costs a whole lot less to keep a Reserve Unit in peacetime, yet the leadership quality for the most part, is the same.
The entire logistics effort for this current dustup, was originally run by a Reserve 2-Star Army Headquarters with 17, direct reporting commands, 7 of which were led by 1 stars...some of which were Active Component & some were National Guard...a true mix of forces. 47,000, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines & civilians.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 1:47PM
That's my Colonel.
Well done, Sir.
Ya drunk.
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 1:52PM
Ya drunk.
Not yet.
Drunken Sailor| 2.26.13 @ 2:16PM
Slacker.
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 2:21PM
I'm so ashamed...I'll try harder....I'm am broadening my horizons tho...I'm substituting Irish for Scotch on occasion, based on that article a couple weeks ago in AmSpec.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.26.13 @ 4:18PM
Going transceltic, eh?
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 4:30PM
I'm drinking my way around the world.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 5:15PM
You spelled "Transvestite" wrong.
Drunken Sailor| 2.26.13 @ 4:23PM
In that case all is forgiven and I leave you with the following words of Irish wisdom.
The horse and mule live thirty years
And never knows of wines and beers.
The goat and sheep at twenty die
Without a taste of scotch or rye.
The cow drinks water by the ton
And at eighteen is mostly done.
The dog at fifteen cashes in
Without the aid of rum or gin.
The modest, sober, bone-dry hen
Lays eggs for noggs and dies at ten.
But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men
Survive three-score years and ten.
And some of us...though mighty few
Stay pickled 'til we're ninety-two.
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 4:29PM
Hear! Hear!
Pecos Pete| 2.26.13 @ 9:02PM
Snap! x 10+
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 4:28PM
Ya drunk.
31 minutes to go
Mike G| 2.26.13 @ 9:11AM
Five hundred billion from DOD over the next decade doesn't solve our problems. What are the Congressman's proposed cuts for non-defense spending?
And think about this: the Dems probably won't sign on to this without guarantees that non-defense spending will be spared from cuts. They don't care what happens to the military, as long as their precious giveaways are safe from the budget ax.
Ross Kaminsky| 2.26.13 @ 11:38AM
One thing at a time, Mike...but Coffman is good on economic/tax/spending issues generally speaking.
Gary B| 2.26.13 @ 12:36PM
Wouldn't it be nice if it mattered? It doesn't.
It's like a Postal employee who has a great idea for improving the system. Good luck with that.
Gary B| 2.26.13 @ 12:41PM
Darrell Issa comes to mind. How many investigations has he launched with great fanfare? How many have actually produced results? Remember Fast and Furious? Where does that stand?
Being "good" on certain issues is nothing but a PR exercise. How about delivering actual results on certain issues? Good intentions go up in smoke when a system as large as the DC quagmire is stacked against you. Again, it's the Titanic.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 2:05PM
It's called: Cloward and Piven.
It's called: Overwhelm the System.
It's called Forged Documents + Fast and Furious + Illegal Drilling Moratoriums + Illegal Wars in Libya + Unconstitutional Recess Appointments + an Illegal Abolition of Workfare from the Welfare Reform Act + Refusal to Enforce The Laws already on the Books, and on, and on, and on, and on.
So many Crimes.
So little Time.
Understand?
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 1:58PM
Whenever I hear about the NEED TO CUT DEFENCE, I'm reminded of the words of former Defence Secetary: Donald Rumsfeld, when asked why our Humvees weren't more heavily armoured.
"We go to War with the Military that we have.
Having the Biggest, Baddest, Military in the World, is Job #1 of the Federal Government, according to The Constitution.
"Nobody was ever attacked, for being too strong." (I don't know who said that)
"Weakness is a Provocation." Also: Donald Rumsfeld.
Please remember that it was Bill Clinton's WEAKNESS, in the face of one Attack after another on U.S. Interests, that convinced Bin Laden that America was a Weak Horse, and Ripe for the Picking.
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 6:15PM
Yes, and "no SOB ever won a war by dying for his country---you win wars by making the other poor SOB die for HIS country."
I don't support foreigners who "stand up" to the USA, unless the USA is sucking up to Islamic terrorists and the other country is standing firm.
As for Hugo Chavez,his grave needs a steady rain of piss.
PolishKnight| 2.26.13 @ 11:28AM
We all see the sequester game. If you threaten them with a 5% cut, they'll choose the most painful places to cut it and in the most inefficient way. If they can save 5 million by shutting down the Washington Monument for a year _OR_ by cutting the government worker's holiday party budget by 5 percent, guess which way they'll go?
In the case of sequestration, they'll claiming that so many things will be cut that it easily exceeds the cuts several times over. Shutdown all the airports, the monuments, passport agencies, etc. What a monstrous lie. And government workers and contractors in the DC region are pretending like it's real and acting all panicky. What a joke. The fact THEY believe it demonstrates how dishonest and/or naive they are and unfit to be members of the elite they like to think they are.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:37AM
Defense is just about the only thing the federal government is required to do by the Constitution. Just about everything else the feds do is not required and many are arguably not allowed. It is not defense spending that is driving the deficit:
"Federal entitlements are driving this spending growth, having increased from less than half of total federal outlays just 20 years ago to nearly 62 percent in 2012. Three major programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—dominate in size and growth, soaking up about 44 percent of the budget. All three programs are growing faster than inflation, and—when joined with $1.7 trillion in new Obamacare spending—will drain about 18.5 percent of the nation’s total economic output by mid-century. Because that is about the historical annual average of total federal tax revenue, it means all other government programs—national defense, veterans health care, transportation, federal law enforcement, and others—would effectively have to be financed on borrowed money.
Other entitlements continue growing as well. Anti-poverty programs have surged by 49 percent in just the past decade, even after adjusting for inflation. Spending for food stamps alone has more than tripled since 2002. Health programs, including Medicaid, have increased by 38 percent, and housing assistance by 48 percent."
mike 3/505| 2.26.13 @ 12:59PM
MedicAID is not an entitlement...although folks on both sides of the aisle continue to conflate it with medicARE. Social programs are also not entitlements. Entitlements are something you are "entitled to" or put another way, something you "own the title to," via payment...either in cash or in the case of our Veterans, a part of the compensation package.
Social Security & MediCARE might not be legally considered "entitlements," because the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress can reduce or eliminate benefits any time it wishes. General rule of thumb, an entitlement is the result of a completed contractual obligation.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:38AM
"Although these entitlement programs have dominated the government’s spending growth, discretionary spending—spending authorized by annual appropriations bills—also has grown by 40 percent more than inflation, to $1.289 trillion. Spending on non-defense programs has grown 29 percent. These outlays peaked in 2010 due to the stimulus bill, but remain 7 percent higher than their pre-stimulus level of 2008."
http://www.heritage.org/resear.....mbers-2012
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:40AM
■In 2011, the federal government wasted $115.3 billion of taxpayers’ money in improper payments: money paid in the wrong amount, to the wrong person, or for the wrong reason. Most of these excess payments—$107 billion, or 93 percent—were in just 10 programs, including Medicare fee-for-service ($28.8 billion), Medicaid ($21.9 billion), the Earned Income Tax Credit ($15.2 billion), and Unemployment Insurance ($13.7 billion). Implementation of updated computer systems and fraud detection methods and stricter documentation requirements would reduce payment errors.
■Federally subsidized Amtrak lost $84.5 million on its food and beverage services in 2011, and $833.8 million over the past 10 years. It has never broken even on these services.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:41AM
■The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified 34 areas in which federal agencies or initiatives have overlapping goals or duplicative services, which cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year. There are:
■More than 80 economic development programs operating out of four different agencies: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Small Business Administration;
■More than 100 economic development programs spread across five agencies within the Department of Transportation;
■Seven federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, which have more than 20 programs addressing homelessness;
■44 employment and training programs in the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor; and
■82 programs on teacher quality run through the Departments of Defense, Education, and Energy, as well as NASA and the National Science Foundation.
■In 2008 and 2009 alone, the Department of Justice spent (DOJ)$121 million to host or participate in 1,832 conferences.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:42AM
■At one conference, petite Beef Wellington made the hors d’oeuvres menu, at a cost of $7.32 per serving.
■An internal audit found DOJ did not keep costs to a minimum, despite federal guidelines. The most expensive conference reviewed in the audit was held in Istanbul, Turkey, and cost $1.18 million.
■The General Services Administration (GSA), which is responsible for managing federal buildings and helping to cut costs, held a conference costing $822,751 in Las Vegas. At more than $2,500 per employee, it included $44-per-person breakfasts and commemorative coins for conference participants that cost $6,325.
■In fiscal year 2010, the federal government spent nearly $1.7 billion to maintain 77,700 underused or unused buildings.
■Eliminating both the New Starts and Small Starts transit grants programs would save taxpayers $5.6 billion over the next five years and $16.3 billion over 10 years. It would get the federal government out of the business of subsidizing high-cost, low-value local transit projects, such as $900 million for a 10-mile extension of the Bay Area rail system in San Jose and a $1.6 billion grant to construct a Honolulu rail line.
■The Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Chief Information Officer funded a $2 million intern program. Only one intern was hired full time as a result.
■Fifteen federal agencies are involved in administering 30 food safety laws, resulting in fragmented food safety oversight.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:43AM
■The U.S. Navy bought 450,000 gallons of biofuels for $12 million, or almost $27 per gallon, to conduct exercises to showcase the fuel and bring it closer toward commercialization. It is the largest biofuel purchase ever made by the government.
■The Internal Revenue Service stored 22,486 items of unused furniture in a warehouse at an annual cost of $862,000.
■An Inspector General audit found that the Department of Energy cannot locate $500,000 worth of “green energy” manufacturing equipment that was bought with stimulus money.
■The Bureau of Indian Affairs funded a fish hatchery that never saw a fish hatch for fourteen years, continuing funding even after the land had been converted to office space. Taxpayers spent $46.1 million in fiscal year 2012 to operate the national fish hatchery system.
■The Department of Agriculture endorsed the “Meatless Monday” initiative and then a few weeks later announced plans to purchase $170 million worth of meat from drought-stricken livestock producers.
■The Labor Department spent $495,000 in stimulus money on 100 television commercials to advertise the Obama Administration’s Jobs Corps Initiative for green jobs.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:44AM
■The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $6.1 million, or $3,389 for each of the 1,800 employees that attended two training conferences last year in Orlando, Florida. The agency Inspector General’s office is investigating the conference organizers for possible ethics rules violations. The department also spent nearly $50,000 to make a video parodying General Patton that was shown at the conferences and $98,000 on promotional items. The items included pens, highlighters, hand sanitizers, and USB flash drives with VA’s logo.
■The State Department began a Diplomatic Culinary Partnership program in 2012. Over 80 American chefs have been inducted into the American Chefs Corps and will support the State Department by preparing food for visiting officials and traveling around the world to engage in “culinary diplomacy.”
■The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $221,540 on an 11-day conference at a resort—enough to pay annual disability compensation for six totally disabled combat veterans.
■Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy officials approved a $76 million grant for a wood-to-ethanol plant in Soperton, Georgia, despite concerns among the project’s researchers and other officials. The plant closed within a year of receiving the loan guarantee, without producing any ethanol.
■The Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program gave $55,660 to a New York State dairy farm to package its butter in smaller, eight-ounce containers.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:45AM
grant totaling $25,000 was used to transcribe a Maldivian love ballad.
■Taxpayers funded a National Institutes of Health study costing $55,382 in 2011, and $170,000 over three years, to study the hookah smoking habits of Jordanian university students.
■The Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program spends $200 million a year to help U.S. agricultural trade associations and cooperatives advertise their products in foreign markets. In 2011, it funded a reality TV show in India that advertised U.S. cotton.
■The Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $141,450 grant under the Clean Air Act to fund a Chinese study on swine manure and a $1.2 million grant to the United Nations for clean fuel promotion.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:45AM
■The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some people are double-dipping from unemployment and disability benefits programs. This lack of coordination among government agencies is costing taxpayers $850 million annually. GAO found one individual who drew $62,000 from unemployment insurance and disability insurance at the same time she was working and earning an additional $7,000 in income.
C'mon Man!| 2.26.13 @ 3:32PM
So, they finally caught my ex. Wonder if they will make her pay it back, probably not.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:45AM
■In 2011, the top 20 percent of farm subsidy recipients received almost 80 percent of all premium subsidies. Twenty-six farm businesses each collected over $1 million worth of subsidies.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:46AM
■Taxpayer losses from the failed solar cell manufacturing company Solyndra, which received a federal loan guarantee, totaled $528 million. Beacon Power and Abound Solar, two other failed alternative energy companies, cost taxpayers $46.5 million and $73.1 million, respectively.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:46AM
■A Congressional Research Service report revealed that among individuals earning $1 million or more, 2,840 received unemployment benefits in 2008 and 2,362 received the benefits in 2009.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:47AM
■The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers $2.1 billion annually not to farm their land for a period of at least ten years.
Pecos Pete| 2.26.13 @ 1:43PM
MarkEnOff: Well done! Thanks.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 2:16PM
Wow.
And, the sad thing is, that you've barely scratched the surface on all of this.
And, you spelled "Jackoff" wrong.
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 6:17PM
Superb work, sir.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 11:48AM
"Mike Coffman gets it."
If by "it" you mean screwed we all get it. As do our kids, grandkids and great grandkids.
We borrow money from China to fund a Chinese study on swine manure?
Gary B| 2.26.13 @ 12:42PM
A guy could cynical if he wasn't careful.
markenoff| 2.26.13 @ 12:48PM
I believe cynicism is the attitude our Founding Fathers took towards politicians which is why they created a federal government with limited powers and checks and balances. But we tinkered with it, not least by making Senators directly elected. They were intended to represent the states not the people of the states.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 2:17PM
You spelled "Cinema" wrong.
Job| 2.26.13 @ 12:50PM
Hmm I think the beef wellington was the only bargain but clear winner,
lost fake green backs that backs green fake lost energy,
goes to the useless Dept. of Energy.
Where, when, why, how and WTF is the government doing looking for Energy .
Ronsch| 2.26.13 @ 1:07PM
Is he going to ask to get rid of the BS public relations campaigng (and idea) that the US Navy is a "Global Force For Good?
That makes me sick...if you want to build homes in Afrcapistan, get HUD...If you want to do drug interdiction in Mexico, use the DEA...Protection for diplomats, do not waste SEALS, use DSS...Be nice and do public works or disaster relief, call the freakin' Red Cross or Boy Scouts...Stop using the military power (not to mention budget) of the US for such nonsense.
TLP| 2.26.13 @ 2:19PM
I'm told that the only thing he wants to CUT, is his 24oz Porterhouse Steak.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.26.13 @ 4:26PM
...and that is only when Michelle isn't looking (otherwise, it is "Could you please pass the arugala?".
Joe D.| 2.27.13 @ 11:20AM
I understand yours and Coffman's points. However, the world around us is getting more violent by the day. And Europe is a shell of it's former self. I know they need to step up, but how soon would they be ready. I think South Korea should help with our military budget in there country as well as Germany. However, good luck getting the money.
John Dewey| 2.27.13 @ 4:01PM
Joe D: "However, the world around us is getting more violent by the day."
So what? Is it my responsibility as a U.S. taxpayer to protect the world from violence? It doesn't cost $600 billion a year to protect the U.S. from terrorists and from invasion.
Occam's Tool| 3.6.13 @ 6:19PM
Mr. Dewey: there will be defense cuts. There will also be further terrorist attacks. Some will succeed. When they succeed, if it is your loved one killed, how much would you have spent for him or her?
It is the US Government's responsibility to protect its taxpayers from overseas assaults on us, yes.