Tag Archives: fiscal sanity

The Road Toward Fiscal Sanity

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On February 22nd, Fox News posted an article listing seven things that happened this week that will move us toward more a fiscally responsible government.

Here is the list:

1. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, shot down a request from several federal labor unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), to pause the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration.

2. DOGE was handed another victory by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who denied a request to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Musk and DOGE from accessing data systems at the Department of Education, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce. 

3. DOGE scored a win in court after a federal judge declined a request to temporarily block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing sensitive data from at least three federal agencies.

4. Earlier this week, DOGE announced it had discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments, that was oftentimes left blank.

5. Schools spent hundreds of billions of COVID relief funds on expenses that had “little” impact on students, such as Las Vegas hotel rooms and the purchase of an ice cream truck, according to the Trump administration’s cost-cutting department.

…The cost-cutting department also revealed that schools spent $60,000 in COVID relief funds on swimming pool passes, while a California district used its funds to purchase an ice cream truck.

6. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is working with DOGE to make cuts within his department, saying he believes it will find waste “not core to our mission.”

7. DOGE revealed on Tuesday that the U.S. government has more than 4 million active credit cards on its books.

“The US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for ~$40B of spend[ing] in FY24,” DOGE said in a post on X.

We are definitely moving in the right direction.

 

Taking Steps To Restore Fiscal Sanity

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On Tuesday, The Washington Examiner posted an article detailing the steps that the new Republican House of Representatives should take to restore fiscal sanity to America.

The article reports:

The 118th Congress has been in session for three months, and the new House majority is already moving ahead on legislation that would reduce regulations, begin to restore energy independence, and prevent some of the worst policies that were enacted in the last Congress from taking effect. House committees have been holding oversight hearings to increase accountability and transparency, both of which have been severely lacking over the past two years. Members should use this momentum to spring into action and do even more to protect taxpayers.

The top priority for the 118th Congress should be to cut wasteful government spending and stop new spending, which happens to be the best way to fight inflation. The last Congress pushed through a record-breaking amount of spending, from the COVID-19 “relief” bills such as the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, all of which added up to more than $5 trillion. This massive spending spree is the reason the United States is suffering from the highest inflation rates it has seen in 40 years and staring down an impending recession.

Congress can stop unnecessary government spending by rejecting the new taxes and pet projects that litter President Joe Biden’s $6.8 trillion fiscal 2024 budget . The budget includes many unnecessary, liberal policies that the president has used to advance political objectives. It would also violate the president’s campaign pledge not to raise taxes on those making under $400,000.

The article concludes:

Congress must also push back against the restrictive policies and rules being pushed by the Federal Trade Commission. FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan has used her post at the agency to stall or prevent nearly every possible merger, including an attempt to block Meta’s acquisition of Within, which was struck down by a federal court in California. Khan is also trying to prevent Microsoft from acquiring video game producer Activision, setting privacy rules for the entire country, and banning all noncompete clauses. As Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz wrote , “The FTC has become one of the biggest obstacles to competition and consumer welfare.”

The 118th Congress has made progress during its first three months. But members must spring into action and enact policies that would make the federal government more effective and accountable rather than more wasteful and intrusive.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. There is hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel–a small light, but a light.