The Government Racket 2000: All New Washington Waste from A to Z

by Martin L. Gross

• ISBN13: 9780380787845
• ISBN10: 0380787849
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-20
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

In this stunning follow-up to the 21-week "New York Times" bestseller "The Government Racket: Washington Waste From A-Z, " "Martin Gross (has a) talent for diagnosing what ails us" ("Washington Times").

Table of Contents

Introduction to The Government Racket 2000	1	(8)
PART ONE NEW WASHINGTON WASTE
Accounting
Is There a Bookkeeper in the House?	9	(7)
Baby-Sitters, Washington Style
``But I Don't Need Welfare!''	16	(3)
Budget
The Surplus That Wasn't	19	(12)
Computers
Wanted: Teenage Hackers	31	(7)
Conventions, Presidential
They're Partying on Our Nickel	38	(3)
Corporate Welfare
You Mean I'm Subsidizing Intel?	41	(7)
Demonstration Projects
Highways to Pork Heaven	48	(8)
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Are You Getting Your Free Money from Uncle Sam?	56	(8)
Federal Follies
More Aggravating Than Entertaining	64	(8)
Federal Palaces
$13 Million Just for the Architect?	72	(6)
Golf
Putts Instead of Planes	78	(3)
Horses
Millions for Belgian Steaks	81	(3)
International Enterprise Funds
Want to Buy a Mutual Fund---In Bulgaria?	84	(5)
Junkets, Military Style
Fly Me to the Moon	89	(4)
Kickbacks, Bribes, Con Jobs, and Simple Fraud
Uncle Sucker Gets Ripped Off, Inside and Out	93	(13)
Loans
The Government Bank: Everyone's Welcome	106	(5)
Mass Transit
Brother, Can You Spare Train Fare?	111	(5)
Merchant Marine
What Happened to Old Glory at Sea?	116	(6)
Metric System
How Many Millimeters Long Is Your Foot?	122	(4)
National Parks
Purple Mountain Majesty and Red Ink	126	(4)
Native Americans
Gambling Casinos: Revenge on the Palefaces	130	(6)
Outhouses
Relief Is Just a Fortune Away	136	(2)
Peanuts
Want to By Some Bootleg Nuts?	138	(4)
Pork
$18 Billion a Year to Study Why Politicians Are Compulsive Spenders	142	(16)
Quakes, Hurricanes, Fema, and Other Disasters
We Insure Everything	158	(5)
Radio ADS
Are We Paying to Pollute the Airwaves?	163	(3)
Recording Studios
High Tech---in Your Face	166	(4)
Small-Business Criminals
Holding Up Uncle Sam	170	(5)
SSI---Supplemental Security Income
A Good Idea Too Often Gone Bad	175	(10)
Statistical Services
They've Got Our Number---Seventy-three Times	185	(4)
Telephones
Just Charge It to Uncle Sam	189	(5)
Universal Service Fund
Reach Out and Touch Someone---Like Harrison Ford	194	(3)
Volunteers (Americorps)
In Washington They Get Paid	197	(4)
Welfare
It's Bigger Than You Think	201	(7)
Youth At Risk
Have I Got a Teen Program for You!	208	(4)
Zooming National Debt
It Still Goes Only One Way---Up	212	(6)
PART TWO REVIEW AND DEJA VU
Defeats and Victories in the Fight Against Waste
Office of Former Speakers	218	(1)
Government Airplanes, Nonmilitary	219	(2)
Decorating for the Bureaucracy	221	(2)
Helium	223	(1)
Congressional LSOs	224	(1)
Mining Bill of 1872	225	(3)
Wool and Mohair	228	(1)
Rural Utilities Services	229	(2)
Essential Air	231	(3)
Federal Employees	234	(3)
Congressional Retirement	237	(2)
Auctioning Off the Airwaves	239	(2)
Newsletters	241	(2)
Forest Service---More Corporate Welfare	243	(2)
Congressional Perks	245	(12)
PART THREE BLUEPRINT FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
How to Redesign the Government and Save a Fortune in the Process
The Cabinet	257	(6)
The Oversized Little Cabinet	263	(1)
Programs That Should Be Eliminated	263	(2)
Antisubsidy Act	265	(1)
Duplication and Overlap	265	(2)
Congress	267	(4)
Presidential Primaries	271	(4)
Taxes: Eliminate the Internal Revenue Service	275	(3)
Initiative and Referendum	278	(2)
Establish an Independent Inspector General of the United States	280	(3)
Appendix An Inventory of Waste: What's the Total?	283	(4)
Index	287