Free Republic

Washington - -- The tax compromise expected to pass the Senate today and add $858 billion to the national debt is packed with much more than another year of unemployment benefits and a two-year extension of all the Bush-era tax cuts. It also contains a special-interest bonanza of spending programs disguised as tax breaks, or "tax earmarks," that range from energy and education tax credits to tax-exempt bonds for areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. California's Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer joined an overwhelming 83-15 vote Monday to move forward on the tax bill, the biggest bipartisan...

When the clock runs out on 2007, Boston will quietly mark the end of one of the most tumultuous eras in the city's history: The Big Dig, the nation's most complex and costliest highway project, will officially come to an end. After a history marked by engineering triumphs, tunnels leaks, epic traffic jams, last year's death of a motorist crushed by falling concrete panels and a price tag that soared from $2.6 billion to a staggering $14.8 billion, there's little appetite for celebration. Civil and criminal cases stemming from the July 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse continue, though on Monday the...

The future of Social Security is indeed going to be a burden on future generations, but what about the national debt? Maybe it's time to start vetoing spending bills full of unnecessary earmarks. See the cartoon: http://cartoons.blog.com

RALEIGH – During the two heartbreaking weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities, Congress passed two separate relief bills totaling $62.3 billion. Supporters portrayed the aid packages as emergency measures and desperately needed. But six weeks later, according to media reports, the federal government has spent or contracted to spend only about a quarter of the money, or $16.2 billion. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco expressed disappointment with the relatively slow spending pace, but other politicians and observers – including members of Congress – have registered their satisfaction that careful analysis and bidding procedures have preceded...

After four years of debate, Congress is close to passing the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU), commonly referred to as the highway bill. The House version of TEA-LU, in particular, contained egregious examples of excessive spending of taxpayer money on unnecessary highway projects. The House highway bill matched the president’s spending limit of $284 billion, but includes 3,700 special interest projects costing $12 billion; the Senate’s version went over the president’s limit by $11 billion, totaling $295 billion. The final bill spends at a level of $286.4 billion. History of the Gas Tax and the Federal Role...