Where is the Money Going?

Little-Known Law Requiring Minimum Number of Immigrant Detainees Leads to Massive Spending Increase

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suggested earlier this year during the sequestration debate that Congress reduce the “bed mandate” after years of it being raised again and again. GOP lawmakers objected, however. They responded by setting the mandate at 34,000 detainees and ordered ICE to spend nearly $400 million more than the agency requested. read more

Cities Use Anti-Terrorism Funds to Ramp up Citizen Surveillance for other Purposes

Local officials and police in Oakland developed the Domain Awareness Center. The Center is planned as a high-tech operation, fully staffed 24 hours a day, which will display its streams of data on banks of giant wall monitors. Initially data collection will focus on the port, traffic camera coverage, license plate reading and 911 calls. Eventually, the system will add surveillance of schools, state highways and commuter rail. read more

Home Buyers Kept in Dark as Builders Retain Mineral Rights with Eye on Fracking Revenue

Reuters examined county property records in 25 states and found thousands of cases where people purchased homes not knowing that a developer had retained all underlying mineral rights. Homebuilders have been motivated to secretly keep mineral rights because of the booming fracking industry, hoping that someday energy companies will show up wanting to drill underneath the properties. read more

McDonald’s Employee Arrested after Complaining to Company President about Low Wages

“It’s really hard for me to feed my two kids and struggle day to day,” Salgado shouted at McDonald’s USA President Jeff Stratton while he spoke to the Union League Club of Chicago. “Do you think this is fair, that I have to be making $8.25 when I’ve worked for McDonald’s for ten years?” Stratton responded by saying: “I’ve been there for forty years.” read more

Getting Paid during Government Shutdown is a No-Brainer for These Lawmakers

Whether or not a representative is accepting his or her salary, all House members can still enjoy the perk of using the House gym. The facility—which offers a swimming pool, basketball courts, steam room, sauna, and flat-screen TVs— has remained open during the government shutdown...although lawmakers are having to go without towel service at this time. read more

Defense Dept. Suspends Public Announcements of Contracts

Just last week, Lockheed received two more contracts worth $7.8 billion for 71 F-35 jets, a program that has attracted widespread criticism, including by lawmakers, for its rising costs. “For the public not to know for days, and perhaps even a number of weeks, about large-scale contract spending is anathema to open government,” explained Charles Tiefer, a former member of the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. “This is a form of secret contracting.” read more

Bankrupt California City “Throws Down the Gauntlet,” Favors Retirees over Creditors

The case pits U.S. bankruptcy law—which gives the judge vast authority to decide who gets dinged for a filer’s debts—against California state law that says funding for the pension plan cannot be monkeyed with. Stockton has continued to make payments to the pension fund throughout the negotiations, unlike the city of San Bernardino, which filed for bankruptcy in August. read more

Massive Spending on “War on Drugs” has Failed to Curb Supply

The research published in BMJ Open, an open access journal for general medical research, revealed that the average street price of heroin, cocaine and cannabis in the U.S. declined by 81%, 80% and 86%, respectively, from 1990 to 2010. Meanwhile, the purity/potency of these drugs increased by 60%, 11% and 161%, respectively. read more

Big Winners in Government Shutdown…Political Fundraisers

“Demonizing the opposition is central to the process” of raising campaign money in the current environment, Steven S. Smith, political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told The Los Angeles Times. “The more important the development in Washington, the easier it is to scare potential donors into handing over the cash.” read more

Surprising Jump in Elderly U.S. Women Living in Extreme Poverty

The study found that the number of women age 65 and older living in extreme poverty increased by 18% from 2011 to 2012. The statistical jump translated into 135,000 more elderly women living on less than $5,500 annually, with the total in this group reaching 733,000. read more

FBI Eases Up on White Collar Crime

If the FBI maintains its pace for the remainder of 2013, the bureau’s total will be down nearly 7% from the previous year, TRAC concluded. More importantly, the rate that the FBI pursues white-collar crimes could be down as much as 45% compared to totals from 2003—and nearly 59% from 1993. read more

Sen. Feinstein’s Husband Reaps Profits from Post Office Closings

Byrne also found that 20% of the portfolio was sold to business partners or clients of CBRE, while it took up to a 6% commission in 34 of the 52 transactions. CBRE appeared to act as an agent for both the Postal Service and buyers in many of the transactions, contrary to customary property sales, according to Byrne. read more

Richest Corporations Received Millions of Dollars in Small Business Contracts

Many of the Fortune 500 companies are double dippers—meaning they’ve been awarded federal deals for both large and small businesses. Lockheed Martin is one example. Ranked 59th in the Fortune 500, Lockheed is the federal government’s largest vendor, which didn’t stop it from collecting more than $110 million in small business contracts in FYs 2012 and 2013. read more

How Did ATF Lose 420 Million Cigarettes?

ATF agents failed to properly account for 2.1 million cartons containing 420 million cigarettes as part of the agency’s undercover operations, according to the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (IG). The missing cartons had a retail value of $127 million. The IG’s office also reported that ATF paid an informant more than $4.9 million without requiring him to account for his expenses. read more

Betting Big on Romney Win, in Possible Effort to Manipulate 2012 Election, Brought $7 Million Loss

The researchers speculate that the unknown trader may have tried to alter the perception of how well Romney was doing. After examining market bets placed during the end of the campaign, Sethi and Rothschild say the trader accounted for about 30% of all the money wagered on Romney in the last two weeks before Election Day. “This was someone who was extremely sophisticated,” Sethi told The Wall Street Journal. “It was not someone who was dumb or stupid.” read more

20 Million Americans Live on Less than $3,000 a Year

Nearly half of the poor—43.9% or 20.4 million Americans—live below one-half of the poverty line, or $9,150 for a family of three. Thus 6.6% of the total population lives in “deep poverty,” including 9.7% of children. Poverty, regardless of its depth, along with the daily stresses that accompany it, is especially harmful to children, especially young ones. Studies have shown that living in poverty impairs the cognitive development of children. read more