government spending news stories on Newser

GSA Nixes New Vegas Conference

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:04:17 CDT

In the wake of all the uproar over its $822,000 conference in Las Vegas in 2010, the General Services Administration has decided it may not be a good idea to return to Sin City this year, the Washington Post reports. Thus, the GSA axed "GreenUP 2012 Training Conference and...

Federal Heads Roll Over $822K Vegas Party

Polly Davis Doig — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:26:09 CDT

What happens in Vegas ... has come back to bite a federal agency that decided to throw itself an $822,000 conference that was every bit as posh as it was ill-advised. Martha Johnson, the administrator of the General Services Administration, has quit over the brouhaha, acknowledging in her resignation letter...

States, Cities Gutted Spending in 2011

Matt Cantor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:13:20 CST

The final three months of 2011 saw states, cities, and school districts making their biggest spending cuts in a decade, USA Today reports. Spending dropped 1.6% from the same period the year before, plummeting by $26 billion. The result: States are seeing their smallest shortfalls in years, and in...

Congress Dodging Earmark Ban: Watchdogs

Matt Cantor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:58:05 CST

Congress' ban on earmarks doesn't seem to be stopping members from channeling money to home-state projects. These days, instead of tacking such projects on to bills, legislators are creating "slush funds" that ultimately serve the same purpose, watchdog groups tell the New York Times . Included in the Army Corps of...

I Want 20% Less Spending on Swag: Obama

Kate Schwartz — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:59:13 CST

If you happen to be sipping from a promotional coffee cup bestowed on you by a federal agency, hang on to it: You might not be getting a new one anytime soon. As part of his "We Can't Wait" campaign, President Obama will today announce his latest effort: slashing waste....

Oops: $16 Muffin Never Happened

Mark Russell — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:41:59 CDT

Remember how impossible it seemed that the government would pay $16 for a single muffin ? Well, apparently it was so impossible that it didn't really happen. The inspector general of the Justice Department apologized yesterday for the original report in September, saying it was all a misunderstanding, reports the...

Perry's Job Program Claims Wildly Inflated

Kevin Spak — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:38:25 CDT

Rick Perry often boasts of his $440 million Texas Enterprise Fund, which he says has created more than 59,000 jobs. But the program’s estimates often appear wildly exaggerated, the Wall Street Journal reports. A $50 million grant to Texas A&M for a new Genomic Institute, for example, has been...

GOP's Government Haters Happy to Work for It

Rob Quinn — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:44:05 CDT

For a group of people who loudly denounce government, most of the GOP presidential contenders sure have spent a lot of time working for it—as politicians, as an attorney for the IRS, as an Air Force serviceman, and in other ways, observes Gregg Easterbrook at Reuters . People who have...

$16 Government Muffins? It's a 'Myth'

John Johnson — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:39:19 CDT

A recent government audit wagged its finger at the Justice Department for spending $16 on muffins. It's a great story, a classic case of government abuse—and almost certainly not true, writes Kevin Drum at Mother Jones . Yes, the invoices show the department spent $4,200 on 250 muffins and...