Redressing Politicized Spending

Engage Volume 15, Issue 1 February 2014

March 25, 2014

Daniel Z. Epstein

Read the full piece: Federalist Society

In 2007, the Bush White House sent senior political officials to brief political appointees in federal agencies on how they could help steer federal funds to favor Republican congressional candidates. In 2010, the Obama White House had direct involvement in shaping the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Program Office’s loan and loan guarantee funding decisions.
These are not isolated anecdotes. They characterize a body of empirical evidence demonstrating that federal agencies’ discretionary spending and other decisions are susceptible to capture by the political interests of Congress and especially the President. Politicized spending undermines transparency and the “level playing field” needed to maintain public trust and confidence in government. Furthermore, large-scale discretionary spending without an effective independent check on the government’s ability to steer discretionary funds to favored firms, organizations, and individuals corrodes the foundations of any system based on principles of limited and accountable government.

Read the full story: US News & World Report

To the casual observer it looks like there is some there there. The COA report makes what many will find a convincing case that the over-reporting in 2010 was not an isolated incident but was, in fact common practice. Which means that, even without the backing of the Justice Department the watchdog group is going ahead with its law suit because, Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein said, “the American taxpayers deserve accountability.”

 

“The reputations of political insiders cannot be more important than the integrity of federal programs and the protection of taxpayer funds,” Epstein said. “When the federal government – including departmental inspectors generals – cannot be counted on to discourage fraud, citizen watchdog groups like ours must intervene.”