Where is the Money Going?
Pentagon Awards Another Huge Jet Fuel Contract to Mysterious Company
Mina Corp., a little known American-owned enterprise that has been under investigation by Congress, has won another lucrative contract with the Department of Defense. Mina, and another firm, Red Star Enterprises, both of which are owned by Calif... read more
Left and Right Unite against Government Waste
Consumer advocates at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) haven’t seen eye-to-eye with the anti-tax crusaders at the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) on many issues. But the two divergent organizations have come together on the mat... read more
Pentagon to Lose Control of Intelligence Budget
When President George W. Bush created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to oversee all intelligence matters, he did not give this new centralized authority control over the government’s secret spy budget. But that’s abou... read more
Million-Dollar Donors: Who are They?
Five of the six top individual contributors this election season have given to one political action committee—American Crossroads—which Republican strategist Karl Rove helped launch to get conservative candidates elected to office.
According... read more
Doctors who Earn Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Speaking for Drug Companies
More than 40 physicians have earned at least $200,000 since 2009 by moonlighting for the pharmaceutical industry, giving speeches to doctors about the wonders of a company’s drugs. These findings come from ProPublica, which gathered disclosure d... read more
Majority of Senators are Millionaires
Millionaires now comprise more than 50% of the U.S. Senate, up from 44% last year. According to analyses of financial disclosure forms by Roll Call, 54 senators reported a minimum net worth of more than $1 million. The total came close to reachi... read more
U.S. Spy Budget Tops $80 Billion a Year
For a change, intelligence experts outside the U.S. government don’t have to guess how much Washington spent last year on civilian and military spying. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper agreed for the first time to publicly release... read more
Thanks for the Bailout; Now Let’s Donate to Candidates
It was a Republican administration that created the risky bailout plan of the banking industry, and a Democratic administration that bailed out the auto industry, but it is Republicans who are hauling in the bulk of contributions this election f... read more
Federal Watchdogs Recovered $8.9 Billion in One Year
Audits may not seem like glamorous work, but they are worth celebrating when the result is billions of tax dollars saved. The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency recently hosted an awards ceremony for federal agency wat... read more
Women’s Small Business Program Launched at Last
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has finally launched a special program designed to help women-owned small businesses get a small piece of the government contracting pie. In the last year of the Bill Clinton presidency, Congress adopted t... read more
Charity Giving Drop Worst on Record
Last year wasn’t just bad for charitable organizations—it was dreadful. In the 20 years that The Chronicle of Philanthropy has tracked donations to the nation’s biggest charities, the editors had never seen anything like 2009.
From 2008 to 2... read more
Back in Business…Luxury Sales Return to Pre-Recession Levels
The rich are once again spending money on themselves, as demonstrated by the noticeable rise in luxury sales in 2010. Purchases of fine clothes, jewelry and other luxury items has surged 10% so far this year, for a total of $237 billion, after d... read more
If You Can Afford to Pay $67 Million, You Can Stay out of Jail…the Case of the Countrywide CEO
Dubbed the worst of the worst who helped cause the financial crisis, Angelo Mozilo has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. government for leading mortgage lender Countrywide—and a large part of the housing market—into turmoil. But the penalty—w... read more
Bailout Program Avoiding Oversight by Using Private Contractors
Judging the performance of the federal bailout program for banks is tough to do when government officials rely on private contractors—that aren’t subject to public scrutiny—to do the actual work.
That’s the case with the Department of the Tr... read more
Companies Continue to Win Federal Contracts Despite Serious Legal Violations
Breaking the law does pay for companies doing business with the U.S. government.
At least 20 federal contractors violated federal wage-and-hour rules, and were forced to pay more than $80 million in back wages. But that was easy to absorb fo... read more
New York City Pays $100 Million a Year to Settle Lawsuits against Police
With the largest police force in the country, New York City pays more than any other metropolis to settle lawsuits filed against the city’s finest.
A review by the Associated Press of litigation targeting the New York Police Department found... read more