Newsletter - January 2025

A new year! A new administration in Washington! An opportunity to discover how the American Republic is supposed to work.  An opportunity to also lift many government rocks and discover what has been going on at our national seat of government.

One thing that has been going on is the spending of an inordinate amount of taxpayer dollars for programs that most of the country knows nothing about.  That is the way that bureaucracies operate.  It is up to citizens to keep track, monitor and control how tax dollars are spent.  

Fortunately, with the addition of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to the Trump cabinet the voters now have an opportunity to find out where our money goes.  Senator Rand Paul has also sent out his Festivus list which he sends out every year.  This lists many examples of how tax money is spent in Washington D. C.

Festivus   
Department of the Interior:  $12 Million spent on a Las Vegas Pickleball Complex.
Department of Health & Human Services: $419,470 spent to determine if lonely rats seek cocaine more than happy rats.
State Department:  $3 Million for "Girl-Centered Climate Action in Brazil."
State Department: $2.1 Million spent for Paraguayan Border Security.
Agency for International Development (USAID) is spending $20 Million on "Ahlan Simsim" which is a new Sesame Street show in Iraq.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA):  $10,000 grant to the Bearded Ladies Cabaret to support a cabaret show on ice skates focused on climate change.
Department of State: $330,000 to fund censorship of non-liberal and conservative media.
Department of State: $4,840,082 spent on influencers.
Federal Government:  $7,026,689 spent on various magical projects.
Federal Government:  $10 Billion spent on maintaining, leasing and furnishing almost entirely empty buildings since the majority of federal workers work from home.
Additional examples of government (efficiency)?  These represent examples of money spent over the years.  These are just two examples.
$2.6 Million spent training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
Securities and Exchange Commission: $3.9 Million rearranging desks and offices at its Washington D.C. headquarters.

One of the ways that money is quietly spent in Washington D.C. is by the use of earmarks.  An earmark spending refers to a part of a spending bill that allocates money for a specific thing such as a location, project or institution. The key difference between an earmark and a general budget line is the specificity of the recipient which is usually a particular project in a specific Congressional Representative's district or a Senator's home state.  Earmarking is often used as a tool for negotiation and deal-making. A representative might vote for a project in another representative's district in exchange for a vote in his district.  Earmarks have always been controversial.  Nonetheless, after a 10 year moratorium Congress reinstated them in 2021.  

The 32nd edition of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) Congressional Pig Book tracks the earmarks received by members of Congress.  The 2024 Pig Book exposes 8,222 earmarks costing $22.7 Billion. The amount of earmarks varies.  Earmarks are controversial with some members of Congress receiving far more benefits than other members. Members of small districts or states often get far more in earmarks than representatives in larger districts because the representative of the smaller district has greater seniority.  

Here is an interesting thought to consider.  Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will be running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  Many people are hopeful that this new department will hold federal agencies accountable for failure, reduce the unbelievable spending in Washington and produce real reform.  

When a person considers the federal government, there already is an institution that should be doing all that DOGE is planning on doing.  That institution is the United States Congress.  Our founders thought that Congress would be the dominant branch of government.  Most people don't even recognize this role for Congress since that branch has regularly surrendered its constitutional authority to the executive and judicial branches especially when it comes to spending.  

It is critical that Congress's budget process is reformed.  Congress routinely fails to pass a budget.  This has led to 131 stopgap spending measures since 1997 along with many government shutdowns during the past decade  

The Trust Act was a bipartisan, bicameral proposal until the Biden administration demagogued it as a 'death panel" bill.  This bill would have created discrete rescue committees for each of the federal trust funds that are at risk of insolvency – Social Security, Medicare Part A and highways.

So where does the average voter fit into all of this?   How about letting your Congressional Representative know what your position is on various issues.?  Yes, that person might be of a different political party.  It is interesting what happens when enough calls go to a Congressional Rep. They do listen.  How about talking to friends and family about various issues?  No mention of party and no being led into the Trump v. the world argument.  Stick with the issue and be able to explain it.  

Let's remember.  This money that Congress is moving around is our money. When programs don't work and funds are just wasted, it is the taxpayer who gets the final bill either as no funds or programs that are not funded which should be.  

Editor's Note:  An excellent description of how government works or doesn't is Johnny Carson's interview of Ronald Reagan on January 3, 1975.   This is available on the internet.