If you are an American taxpayer, it means the burden of making up lost revenue falls more heavily on you. It also creates an uneven playing field for other companies that end up feeling like fools for staying put. For now, rules limiting this type of behavior seem to be a pipe dream. Instead, the corporate runaways are winning — winning no good-American awards, but taking easy money out of the pockets of the U.S. taxpayer.   read more

Crossroads GPS has drawn heavy scrutiny — and critics have said it is taking advantage of what amounts to a loophole in campaign finance rules. The group calls itself a "social welfare" nonprofit that focuses on issues. By law it cannot spend a majority of its funds on political races. However, tax documents leave little question that Crossroads ramps up significantly in election years, with almost $70 million in contributions in 2014, with Senate and congressional seats at stake.   read more

At least $4 million in dark money is flowing to outside groups helping White House hopefuls. Both parties benefit from money routed through obscure corporations, or from nonprofits that don't have to disclose their donors. The contributions are a reminder of federal court decisions in recent years, like Citizens United, that loosened prior restrictions in campaign finance laws. That can hide who's really backing candidates — and what favors or influence could be owed should they get elected.   read more

The potential costs of an attack in the United States are huge. Last year Lloyd's and the University of Cambridge released a 65-page study estimating that simultaneous malware attacks on 50 generators in the Northeastern United States could cut power to as many as 93 million people, resulting in at least $243 billion in economic damage and $21 billion to $71 billion in insurance claims. The study called such a scenario improbable but "technologically possible."   read more

The one thing that historically has held back women in the armed forces is that not all jobs were open to women, especially spots in combat units which are seen as a prerequisite for promotion. But Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s announcement that all jobs are open equally to men and women changed that and women should soon see a clearer path to advancement. The Coast Guard offers a two-year sabbatical to encourage mothers to stay in the service.   read more

The GAO makes recommendations to federal agencies on ways they can save taxpayer dollars. However, some of the larger agencies have yet to embrace 4,800 recommendations made by auditors. The Defense Dept., which has failed to implement 1,004 such suggestions, has by far ignored the GAO the most. One of the biggest defense programs the GAO has examined is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Pentagon, said GAO, did not adequately assess the affordability of the plane, which has had severe problems.   read more

The ranchers claimed there was no drought and so their animals should be allowed to graze on the land. But at least two ranching families involved in the protest received $2.2 million from a federal drought disaster relief program. “It’s another example of the hypocrisy,” said Laura Leigh, founder of Wild Horse Education. “They want to run full numbers (of cattle) and claim there’s no drought, and they want to collect drought subsidies besides.”   read more

American Family Voices is funded by labor unions, environmental interests and a major corporate retail lobbying group. Its video features Sen. Harry Reid criticizing the use of dark money in politics. “Working families can’t compete with billionaires,” he says in the video. “Let’s stop the flood of dark money into our political system and do it now.” But Reid has benefited from dark money as well. Patriot Majority USA spent more than $10 million running ads against Republican candidates.   read more

According to an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting, Kids Wish has given out less than 3% of its donations to sick children. The rest has gone to fundraising and salaries to its founder and former president, Mark Breiner. He or his companies have received $4.8 million over the past 10 years from the charity. More than $110 million has gone to professional solicitors. During the same period, the charity gave only $3.3 million to children.   read more

Political campaigns are spending more money on online advertising, both because more Americans are turning to the Internet for entertainment and news and because it can be more cost effective than running television ads. But the shift to digital makes it more difficult to know who is behind the messages. Online campaign ads can be tracked only on campaign finance reports. In some cases, candidates or super PACs list whom they hired to place online ads, and little or nothing else.   read more

“You’re going on 11 years into this project, they only have one form, and we’re still a paper-based agency,’’said Kenneth Palinkas, former president of the union that represents USCIS employees. “It’s a huge albatross around our necks.’’ USCIS may have to spend another $2 billion to finish the project and digitize the other 94 forms used by immigrants who come to the U.S. The new projected completion date is 2019.   read more

The mistakes involved “beneficiaries who had returned to work and had earnings above program limits,” the GAO reported. Auditors also noted the agency’s “process for handling work reports by beneficiaries has internal control and other weaknesses that increase the risk of overpayments, even when DI beneficiaries follow program rules and report work and earnings.”   read more

Defense officials have denied SIGAR easy access to documents, which is unusual and possibly illegal given the inspector general’s mandate to investigate Pentagon spending in Afghanistan. “Frankly, I find it both shocking and incredible that DOD asserts that it no longer has any knowledge about TFBSO, an $800 million program that reported directly to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and only shut down a little over six months ago,” Sopko wrote to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.   read more

A quarter of the 825 committees were based in the Department of Health and Human Services, with many of them connected with the National Institutes of Health. In total, the committees leaned on the expertise of more than 68,000 individuals. Some of these members were paid for their time, which cost $33 million. Another $43 million was allocated for their travel and per diems.   read more

In the 2013-14 election cycle, candidates for 19 states’ highest courts received $34.5 million in contributions. About a third, $10.1 million, came from special interest groups. Twenty-one of the 23 seats up for grabs were won by the candidate on whose behalf the most money was spent. “The result is heightened secrecy and less accountability,” said the report. “Outside spenders frequently take advantage of weak disclosure laws to shield their donors from public scrutiny."   read more

The largest retirement nest egg is held by former Yum Brands CEO and current executive chairman David Novak. The executive of the company that owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut has $234 million in retirement savings. Most of the employees of his fast food chains have none. The retirement assets of the 100 CEOs with the most put away come to $4.9 billion. That total equals the amount of 41% of American families, more than 116 million people.   read more