Council For Citizens Against Government Waste America's #1 Taxpayer Watchdog

On Tuesday, November 6, South Dakota voters will decide whether to approve Initiated Measure 25 (IM 25).  This measure would increase taxes on cigarettes by $1 per pack and increase the wholesale tax on tobacco products from 35 to 55 percent.  The revenue, it is claimed, will be devoted to the state’s four technical schools.  These institutes’ mission is to offer “associate degree, certificate, and diploma programs in the state’s high-need career fields.”

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) was troubled and mystified when the Trump administration issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking that would change Medicare Part B reimbursement for outpatient drugs from the Average Sales Price (ASP) plus 6 percent to instead a reimbursement system based on what other countries pay for the same drugs.

When Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico and other places in the fall of 2017, Americans of all types raced to help.  Utility companies were among the first to provide aid, as restoring the island’s power grid was a monumental task. 

As is customary for natural disasters, the federal government, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will reimburse utilities for their work to restore service quickly to affected areas—work that does not earn them a profit. 

Except for a few noteworthy successes, such as repealing the individual mandate that forced people to buy health insurance they did not want or could afford, and ridding us of the Independent Payment Advisory Board that turned Medicare over to unelected bureaucrats, Congress has remained almost at a standstill when it comes to fixing and reforming the healthcare insurance market, greatly damaged