Where is the Money Going?

International Body to Allow Large Corporations to Buy Entire Domain Extensions

In fact, the most important restriction on the new gTLDs appears to be their $185,000 “evaluation fee,” which is far out of reach for all but wealthy individuals and large corporations. Online retail giant Amazon (2012 sales: $61 billion) for example, made bids for more than 60 domains, including .amazon, .app, .author, .book, .cloud, .fire, .imdb, .map, and .read. read more

14 GOP Congressmen Say Personal Debt (Their Own) is OK, but not Government Debt

Another Budget Committee member, Roger Williams (R-Texas), said, “Everybody in America has to balance their family’s budget or their business’ budget, not every ten years, not even every single year, but every single day.” Williams may balance his own debt every day, but he and his car dealership still owe $2.5 million of business loans and lines of credit. read more

Constitutional Amendment Seeks to Undo Damage Caused by Citizens United Ruling

Known as the “Democracy is for People Amendment,” the new law would bar all corporate entities from spending their general treasury funds in elections. It would do this by codifying in law that the right to vote belongs solely to people. Sanders and Deutch admit that getting the amendment adopted will not be easy. Such a change would require the House and Senate each to approve it by a two-thirds vote, and it would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. read more

Last Chance to Claim $917 Million in Overlooked Tax Refunds

The IRS says 984,400 people did not file a federal tax return four years ago, leaving the agency with $917.4 million in unpaid refunds. Many of the cases involve people who made too little money to be required to file a tax return, but who had federal taxes withheld from their paychecks and are owed a refund. Lower-income individuals and families with children also may be owed funds as a result of the Earned Income Tax Credit. read more

Federal Transportation Funding May Be Running Out of Gas

For decades, the U.S. government used the existing 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax to finance the fund, which pays for roads and rail programs throughout the U.S. But over the last 20 years, inflation and fuel-efficient automobiles have caused more money to be spent than what the highway trust takes in through the gas tax. Consequently, the trust—which will have about $12 billion by the end of the current fiscal year—is projected to have zero dollars left by 2014. read more

25% of House Lawmakers Awarded Staff Bonuses in Run-up to Fiscal Cliff

Another Democrat, Representative Gary Ackerman of New York, who retired this year after 20 years in the House, led the list of biggest givers by handing out $147,633.34 as going-away presents. A Democrat may have headed the list, but the next nine next biggest givers were all Republicans. read more

Inspector General’s Final Iraq Report Says at least $8 Billion Wasted in Reconstruction Spending

The United States poured more than $50 billion into reconstructing Iraq after blowing a lot of it up during the war. But the mess that the U.S. created transcended buildings and infrastructure that were demolished—it also made a mess of accounting for how the money was spent, and as a result wound up losing at least $8 billion. read more

Biggest U.S. Companies Stash 40% of Profits Offshore to Avoid Taxes

Pharmaceutical and technology companies were most likely to take advantage of U.S. laws that help them avoid taxes on earnings overseas by creating foreign subsidiaries and then shifting patents and marketing rights to these subsidiaries. Prime examples were Pfizer, Merck and Johnson & Johnson, and Microsoft, IBM, Cisco and Apple. read more

In 100 Years, Potato and Bread Prices Have Skyrocketed; Eggs not so Bad

Even though flour has only gone from about 3 cents a pound to 52 cents a pound (1,588%), bread has gone from less than 6 cents a loaf to $1.42 a loaf (2,539%). Potatoes, only 1.6 cents a pound a century ago, now average 63 cents a pound (3,919%). read more

Why are Some U.S. Laws behind a Paywall?

An example of a paywall situation involves workplace safety rules. For an employer to know the dos and don’ts of providing a risk-free office, they must purchase 200 different documents from a private standards developing organization. Activist Carl Malamud took it upon himself to provide some federal standards online so people could be informed without opening up their wallets. This action got Malamud into hot water, and he now faces the possibility of being taken to court. read more

Left and Right Unite in Call for Congress to Cut Defense Spending

Other suggested savings include limiting military bands ($2 billion), delaying the rebuilding of Abrams tanks that the Army doesn’t want ($3 billion), reducing the number of deployed nuclear weapons ($28 billion), withdrawing 40,000 troops from Europe ($32 billion) and downsizing military headquarters ($40 billion). read more

Air Force will Deliver Planes to Afghanistan…after U.S. Trainers Scheduled to Leave the Country

By then the cost of the purchase had risen by $72 million, and the first planes won’t be delivered until at least April 2015 instead of the original target date of April 2014. The problem with that is that the U.S. is scheduled to withdraw most military personnel from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. That means there might not be any American trainers in the country to show the Afghans how to fly the Super Tucanos. read more

EPA Pushed Oil Companies to Pay for Non-Existent Biofuel Additive

Cellulosic biomass, which is ethanol made from switchgrass, wood chips, and other fibrous, non-edible plants, has lagged far behind the goals set by Congress, largely because the cost of production has turned out to be much higher than projected in 2007. In fact, in 2012 the U.S. biofuel industry produced only 20,069 gallons of cellulosic ethanol, compared to the 500 million gallon goal set by EISA. read more

Congress Keeps Funding Little-Used Airports

One example is Lake Murray State Park Airport in Oklahoma, recipient of $150,000 annually from Washington. The airport consists of a field with no landing lights, no electricity, no control tower, and no people to operate it. There is, on average, one landing and takeoff a week, and often is used by passing private planes whose pilots need to use the bathroom. read more

Growing Movement for Gun Owners to Buy Liability Insurance

If owners of automobiles are required to have insurance, then why shouldn’t gun owners be mandated to carry liability coverage? That’s the argument many lawmakers around the country are putting forth to support new legislation in state capitols. Supporters say the new requirement would provide financial incentive for gun owners to handle their firearms safely (those deemed less of a risk would presumably pay lower premiums). read more

Pentagon Accused of Planning Most Damaging Budget Cuts as Means of Getting More Funding

Citing data from a current Congressional Research Service report (pdf), Winslow Wheeler wrote in Foreign Policy magazine that even if sequestration takes place, the Defense Department will have more funding under President Barack Obama “than most other postwar presidents (and without the sequester he will outspend all of them, including Reagan). Moreover, it's all in dollars adjusted for inflation.” read more