“Government Accountability Office” on The Daily Caller

The White House and congressional Democrats are talking up a “green investment bank.” (more)

Over the last thirty years, most legislative and executive branch efforts at regulatory reform have focused on analyzing and improving new regulations, and agencies seldom look back to evaluate whether existing regulations are having their intended effects. Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act provides for periodic review of regulations for their impact on small businesses, but researchers have found that most agencies “comply with the letter of the law for only a small percentage of their rules, and they rarely take action beyond publishing a brief notice in the Federal Register.” (more)

It’s always fun to watch wingnuts become so blindly zealous in their argument that they start attacking their own side like some twisted political game of pin the tail on the donkey. This week, it’s the lunatic left fringe getting its panties all in a bunch over my recent speculation that Wall Street short-sellers are funding the Center for American Progress’s advertising blitz in order to drive down the stock of publicly traded for-profit colleges. These are the same short-sellers recently exposed by the Wall Street Journal for working closely with senior Obama administration officials to impose new government regulations that would hurt for-profit colleges and reap the short-sellers millions of dollars. (more)

Two House committees appear to have locked horns with the Government Accountability Office over a 2010 investigation into the for-profit college industry. (more)

A series of letters solicited by top GOP oversight official Rep. Darrell Issa put the Environmental Protection Agency in crosshairs, urging the aggressive new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to investigate a series of strict new regulations finalized by the Obama administration. (more)

“Facts are stubborn things, and whatever our wishes, our indications, the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” — John Adams, second President of the United States (more)

When she ascended to her position as Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano let it be known that the “War on Terror” was over. Instead, she decreed, America would conduct an “Overseas Contingency Operation,” in order to avert “man-caused disasters,” of the type we experienced on 9/11. (more)

Accusations always get more attention than the end result; it’s just the way the world works. Unfortunate as it may be, accusations garner bold headlines and long stories in newspapers, while corrections get a tiny blurb buried in the pages of the A section with the proverbial “we regret the error.” But when the error is made by the government, a correction is rarely forthcoming. Government corrections are released without notice or fanfare. They just appear one day, while the accusation lives on in the media and on the Internet. Never let a good charge go to waste, even when it’s proven to be wrong. Such is the case with the recent attacks by liberal members of Congress, bloggers and the media on for-profit education. (more)

Texas Republican Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess sent a letter Thursday requesting that the Government Accountability Office investigate whether National Public Radio, which receives federal funds, is using government money to generate content of a specific ideological bent. (more)

Replacing the aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers has been an Air Force priority since 2002.  That year, Congress approved funding for Boeing to lease up to one-hundred 767s to replace the 50-year-old KC-135 tankers.  However, the deal fell apart in the wake of a 2004 bribery scandal that resulted in the convictions of a top Pentagon procurement officer and a senior Boeing official. (more)

With Congress neglecting to pass a budget this year and instead punting to the president’s so-called National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the national focus has shifted to the deficit. However, with unprecedented government growth over the past few years, it is clear the nation’s problem isn’t its deficit; it’s its spending. (more)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Monday accused the White House of using the stimulus tracking website Recovery.gov to disseminate propaganda. (more)

Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, is blasting the Obama administration in a new report, charging the administration has engaged in an “unprecedented” propaganda effort to sell the president’s health care and other policies. (more)

With a mix of emotions ranging from anger and frustration to bewilderment and sympathy, the American public is watching a disappointing story unfold this summer. We are downright stumped as to why President Obama continues to make decisions that neither help his popularity nor improve the economy. Another chapter in this story is about to be written; more disappointment for Obama supporters is in store. (more)

Hundreds of federal employees may have improperly reaped millions in Social Security disability benefits, according to a government watchdog that caught workers at several major agencies pocketing fraudulent payments. (more)

It’s not a news flash that the rapid growth of the federal government is alarming a large number of Americans.  Their outrage is witnessed in the rise of the Tea Party movement that marched on the National Mall and flocked to town hall meetings with an “SOS message” to Congress: Stop Over-Spending! But are lawmakers hearing this plea? A recent study from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) provides clues that at least some may be opening their ears.  For the first time in over a decade, there is a rising number of representatives and senators whose legislative agendas, if enacted into law, would decrease spending. (more)

One of Obama’s hand-picked fiscal commissioners calls him a liar — Lad mag offers Democrats an econ lesson — Former health care execs cannot stop patting one another’s butts — If you smoke, shoot, or booze, the government robbed you good this year — Obama flunky is crushed that businessmen do not want to listen to her monotone nonsense all day — Why are Democrats punishing the poors who have no jobs?  (more)

Republican Reps. Darrell Issa of California, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Chris Smith of New Jersey are calling for a probe to investigate whether Obama administration officials are violating federal law by using taxpayer money to lobby for a new constitution in Kenya that supports and legalizes abortion. (more)

Illinois Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin warned Wednesday that the world of higher education could experience its own version of the subprime mortgage crisis if Congress does not take steps to regulate federal loans given to students at for-profit universities. (more)

House Oversight Chairman Edolphus Towns, New York Democrat, is postponing a hearing poised to be a showdown between the committee’s top Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, and the White House over e-mail and ethics issues. (more)