Archives for 2014

Washington Examiner: Earmarks never went away — they changed addresses

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According to the government watchdog group Cause of Action, which launched a website in early September dedicated to exposing executive earmarks, federal grant spending has jumped 40 percent since 2001.

 

Cause of Action began investigating executive branch earmarks in December 2011, when the group sent Freedom of Information Act requests to 21 different agencies to track down discretionary grants.

 

Hundreds of letters resulting from the organization’s probe and compiled on its new website reveal a pattern of funding requests that echo the language once found in legislative earmarks.

 

The Cause of Action website features a digital timeline of milestones in earmarking’s evolution, including Executive Order 13457, “Protecting American Taxpayers from Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks,” which President George W. Bush signed in 2008.

Cause of Action Supports Congressional Efforts for an Inspector General over the Affordable Care Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            CONTACT:      

September 17, 2014                                               Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721

Cause of Action Supports Congressional Efforts for an Inspector General over the Affordable Care Act

CoA Sends Letter of Support for Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act of 2014, H.R. 4158

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government oversight group, sent a letter today supporting legislation establishing an Inspector General who will monitor the implementation and administration of the Affordable Care Act. SIGMA, the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act of 2014, is sponsored by Rep. Peter Roskam and has been referred to the House Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

CoA’s letter states in part:

The Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Obamacare”) is a deceptively complex and non-transparent law that has created one of the largest government bureaucracies in decades.  The American public already has seen countless problems with the implementation of various aspects of this law, and little has been done to address the risks of waste, fraud and abuse of the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that states are receiving to run their exchanges or marketplaces.  By authorizing a Special Inspector General to focus on monitoring ACA, the SIGMA Act of 2014 has the potential to curb waste, fraud, and abuse. If done properly – by utilizing a robust inspector general who acts independently from HHS and the officials in charge of implementing the ACA – this approach should, in turn, lower health care costs for taxpayers.

You can read the full letter here.

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a non-profit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that fights to protect economic opportunity when federal regulations, spending and cronyism threaten it. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, mary.beth.hutchins@causeofaction.org

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Federalist Society Teleforum: Redressing Politicized Spending

Cause of Action’s Dan Epstein discusses politicized spending by the Executive Branch during a September 10, 2014 Federalist Society Teleforum. Read more about the phenomenon of Executive Branch earmarks and the transparency problems that persist at www.ExecutiveBranchEarmarks.com/.

Cause of Action Launches Online Resource: ExecutiveBranchEarmarks.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      CONTACT:      

September 8, 2014                                             Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721

Cause of Action Launches Online Resource: ExecutiveBranchEarmarks.com

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, launched a new online resource today for those concerned about political influence on discretionary spending: ExecutiveBranchEarmarks.com.

While Congressional earmarks were banned in 2010 and 2011, Executive Branch Earmarks took their place.  Political priorities, insider access to the President, and vote buying are some ways that the President and his political allies benefit from Executive Branch, or agency level, earmarks.

Cause of Action’s three-year-long investigation has revealed the lack of transparency in the way executive branch earmarking occurs.  While congressional earmarks were listed in a publicly available database, Executive Branch Earmarks happen in secret.

Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein said:

“Earmarks are not dead, they have just changed form. The danger of Executive Branch Earmarks is that the White House, not the taxpayers, can pick who receives our tax dollars.  Worse, unlike congressional earmarks, there is no transparency with Executive Branch Earmarks.  ExecutiveBranchEarmarks.com is a resource for learning how federal spending is being politicized.”

Visit the new ExecutiveBranchEarmarks.com.

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a non-profit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that fights to protect economic opportunity when federal regulations, spending and cronyism threaten it. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, mary.beth.hutchins@causeofaction.org.

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Dan Epstein on The Federal Drive with Tom Temin 8/25/2014

Listen to the interview here.

Washington Free Beacon: Democracy Alliance Bankrolled Court-Packing Scheme

Read the full story: Washington Free Beacon

Experts argued these activities appeared to cross the line from education to lobbying.

 

“It bills itself as a tax-exempt educational organization, but obviously the American Constitution Society is engaging in policy-making activities,” said Daniel Epstein, the executive director of Cause of Action and an expert at the conservative Federalist Society. “They created the intellectual arsenal behind filibuster reform.”

 

“[The Democracy Alliance is] investing a lot of money to get the American Constitution Society to do things that are going to benefit the Democratic Party politically,” he said.

Video: Dan Epstein Discusses How the White House is Obstructing Transparency on NewsmaxTV

Read the full story: Newsmax TV