Strange bedfellows: McCaskill, Durbin side with tea party on IRS scrutiny

By   /  May 14, 2013  /  Federal Government, Illinois, Missouri, News, Power Abuse  /  1 Comment

NPR

By Johnny Kampis | Missouri Watchdog
ST. LOUIS — The tea party is gaining some unlikely allies in its clash with the Internal Revenue Service.
Two U.S. senators, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Dick Durbin of Illinois, both Democrats, had harsh words Monday over the agency’s special tax scrutiny of conservative groups.
The IRS admitted last week that some employees [...]

Read More →

Lawmakers’ families bring home big perks

By   /  May 8, 2013  /  Featured, Federal Government, Iowa, News, Power Abuse  /  2 Comments

Farm subsidies equal big money for relatives of Iowa's members of Congress.

By Sheena Dooley | Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Family members and close friends of Iowa‘s Congressional Delegation benefit from their relative’s position, whether it be through securing special one-time funding for an alma mater or hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay a lawmaker’s son for working on his campaign, a review federal records shows.
Take [...]

Read More →

Consumer advocates, constitutional critics challenge Sen. Warren’s Dodd-Frank narrative

By   /  May 3, 2013  /  Accountability, Constitution, Economy, Federal Government, Finances, Free Market, individual rights, National, Power Abuse, Private property rights, Regulatory Reform, U.S. House of Represenatives, U.S. Senate  /  No Comments

Dodd-Frank legislation

By Kevin Mooney | Watchdog.org
Elizabeth Warren needs no introduction. But she does have some explaining to do.
The former Harvard Law School professor who is now a Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts, Warren played an instrumental role in setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created under Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
She [...]

Read More →

Audit latest black eye for embattled Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

By   /  May 1, 2013  /  Accountability, economic development, Featured, News, Power Abuse, Scott Walker, Transparency, Wisconsin  /  3 Comments

The Legislative Audit Bureau found the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. "did not have sufficient policies, including some that were statutorily required, to administer its programs effectively." The report, released Wednesday, is the latest to show significant accountability concerns at the two-year old quasi-public WEDC.

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON – Another audit, another finding of incompetence and waste at the state’s top jobs agency.
The operation at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. apparently is so muddled that the Legislative Audit Bureau could not adequately “assess the effectiveness of WEDC’s economic development programs.”
The bureau’s audit, released Wednesday, found information WEDC [...]

Read More →

PA funeral regulations struck down as ‘protectionist regime,’ but appeals continue

By   /  April 18, 2013  /  Featured, Issues, News, Pennsylvania, Power Abuse, State Government, Uncategorized  /  No Comments

LAST RIDE: A federal judge struck down 11 state regulations on funeral homes in Pennsylvania.

After a four-year court battle, wide swaths of state regulations for funeral homes were swept aside last year by a federal judge who ruled them to be anti-competitive and protectionist.

Read More →