Budget Watchdog พอดคาสต์

Budget Watchdog AF takes a field trip to the corn and soybean fields of northeastern Nebraska in search of common sense on the Farm Bill. Taxpayers for Common Sense Senior Policy Analysts Sheila Korth and Josh Sewell introduce us to the current generations of the Kinkaid family farming this land since the 1940s. Hit play and hear what these farmers…

What’s to be expected as lawmakers in the 118th Congress work to enact the dozen spending bills that fund government before the October 1st start of fiscal year 2024? What about the expiring Farm Bill? Possible cuts to defense spending? Hit play for the Taxpayers Guide to the 118th Congress with host Steve Ellis and TCS Senior Policy Analysts Wendy…

Host Steve Ellis is joined by the entire TCS budget watchdog pack for this 2022 year-in-review episode.โดย Taxpayers For Common Sense

Congress has until December 16th to enact a final FY-23 spending bill, pass another CR, or risk a partial government shutdown. Find out what’s at stake and the budget implications for taxpayers involved in the choice between omnibus and long-term CR. TCS Senior Policy Analysts Joshua Sewell and Wendy Jordan join host Steve Ellis for a conversation …

While most of the country focused on the elections, one of the most important and widely underappreciated documents to emerge from any White House was released, the 2022 National Security Strategy. Join Steve Ellis and TCS National Security Expert Wendy Jordan for a budget watchdog’s take on President Biden's national security vision.…

There is nothing in politics as clarifying as an election. And as the biggest, baddest, budget watchdog podcast on the block, it’s our job to help you see the clearest picture possible of what’s about to go down on Capitol Hill. What’s still on the legislative table? What deals might be made? What hijinx can we expect? And of course, what might it …

The most spooky and creative of holidays reveals a core truth about this podcast, and Taxpayers for Common Sense itself: budget watchdog’in is a team sport. It takes energy and precision and real doggedness to run with our pack… and so today the whole gang is here. Happy Halloween Listening... if you dare.…

The budget deficit for 2022 was $1.4 trillion. That’s half of the $2.8 trillion it was in 2021. In this episode, TCS President Steve Ellis and Senior Policy Analyst Josh Sewell break down the Congressional Budget Office Report on the FY22 Federal Budget Deficit - what it means, what isn’t in it, and what is looming.…

The inability of Congress to fund the government on time without drama is not one-sided. And here we are again! TCS Vice President, Autumn Hanna, and TCS Senior Policy Analyst Josh Sewell, join show host Steve Ellis to explain the bipartisan affliction known as the Continuing Resolution and why curing it requires a bipartisan solution.…

The curious and potentially catastrophic case of your tax dollars being lit on fire. Oil and gas companies waste billions of cubic feet of natural gas extracted from federal lands, royalty-free, every year by just venting it or burning it off. Hit play for the facts about how methane waste on federal lands is causing economic damage to all taxpayer…

It’s August 29th, 2022, the 17th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana. 17 years since the country watched as much of a major U.S. city plunged underwater and more than 1800 lives were lost. On this heavy-hearted anniversary, Steve Ellis is joined by TCS Senior Policy Analyst Josh Sewell to …

It took 100 years, but Congress is poised to pass the first update to the onshore oil and gas royalty rate since 1920. It's all part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. TCS Vice President Autumn Hanna, and Research Analyst Mia Huang, join TCS President Steve Ellis for deep dive on the IRA provisions that directly impact reform in the federal oi…

Who doesn’t love a summer surprise? Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, comes courtesy of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). So, what’s in it and will it live up to its name? TCS President Steve Ellis and Senior Policy Analyst Joshua Sewell have the details in this epis…

In Washington D.C. this mid-July, 2022, the days are long. The temperatures are high. And the legislative headwinds on Capitol Hill are reaching gale force. In this kind of charged and volatile political environment, it is critical that budget watchdogs keep their eye on the ball. What ball? The money! And – nowhere – do we --the American Taxpayers…

Happy 4th of July, BWAF faithful! Do you know the old saying, “More bang for your buck”? Well, this year, when it comes to fireworks on America’s birthday – the mantra is now, "More Bang? More Bucks!" Host Steve Ellis is joined by Josh Sewell – TCS Senior Policy Analyst… to explode the myths about why costs are soaring skyward.…

The Biden Administration has said it is throwing everything at tackling inflation. And it is quite clear that it is not going to be solved by quick fixes. TCS President Steve Ellis and Senior Policy Analysts Josh Sewell and Wendy Jordan spell out how Congress and the administration can remove federal policies distorting the playing field for the be…

Are America’s green fields lined with taxpayer dollars? In this episode of Budget Watchdog AF, host Steve Ellis and TCS Ag experts, Joshua Sewell and Sheila Karpf plow fertile ground with a very special guest. Dr. Joe Glauber served as Chief Economist at the US Department of Agriculture from 2008-2014, and in total, spent more than 30 years at USDA…

In this episode, we explore the inexplicable gold giveaway that the 18th President of the United States signed into law to incentives the development of the west. Ulysses S. Grant signed the General Mining Law of 1872 into law. He thereby set the royalty rate on the sale of publicly owned minerals like gold, silver, copper, and uranium at ZERO. Tha…

Taxpayers for Common Sense believe our tax dollars should be wisely spent no matter what – whether that’s long-term solutions to climate change or addressing pressing issues related to the war in Ukraine. Will the policy responses announced by Congress and the Administration do anything to address rising costs? And what impact will these changes ha…

With $1.6 trillion in discretionary budget authority … the Rube Goldbergian Biden FY 23 federal budget is decidedly not deficit reduction. Hit play if you need a contextualized, nuanced, and laser-sharp read on the numbers and what they really mean. Host Steve Ellis is joined by TCS Senior Policy Analysts Josh Sewell and Wendy Jordan.…

In a world where regular order doesn’t exist. And the biggest, baddest, spending bill on the block is an Apex Predator known as “Omnibus”. The earmarks are out there my friends… and they are slippery suckers. By some accounts… the appropriations earmarks in the $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 omnibus bill that President Joe Biden signed last Tuesday migh…

There is nothing so clarifying for policy and legislative vision, as the State of The Union. On this episode of Budget Watchdog AF, Steve Ellis is joined by future Hall of Fame members of the Taxpayers for Common Sense team to clarify the fiscal message they would like to hear from President Biden.โดย Taxpayers For Common Sense

On this Valentine's Day 2022 Steve Ellis and the TCS team rekindle the romance for making government work. Enjoy the sweet talk and hear the list of policies that the budget nerds love.โดย Taxpayers For Common Sense

After 60 years, the nuclear power industry remains heavily dependent on taxpayer subsidies, faces costly and unresolved waste disposal challenges, and leaves a long trail of ongoing environmental liabilities, from uranium mining contaminants to water pollution. Host Steve Ellis is joined by TCS Senior Policy Analyst Michael Maragos for a briefing o…

It’s 2022 and the 117th Congress rolls on. But what’s really in the realm of the possible right now? In this episode Budget Watchdog AF gives you the lay of the land in Washington D.C. An honest assessment of where things stand on the Biden Administration’s signature social welfare legislation, Build Back Better, and the latest on the federal budge…

It’s a story one hundred years in the making. It’s about greed, naked political power, and the exploitation of American Taxpayers. TCS Vice President Autumn Hanna joins Budget Watchdog AF host Steve Ellis along with Senior Policy Analyst Sheila Karpf and Research and Data Analyst Mia Huang to explain how the oil and gas industry has secured $93 Bil…

A history lesson with special implications for our current debt limit fight about to kick-off in Congress. In times like these, wild things can be agreed to. And in the case of the Budget Control Act of 2011, Congress agreed to all of them… and adhered to none of them. Host Steve Ellis is joined by TCS Senior Analysts Josh Sewell and Wendy Jordan f…

TCS President Steve Ellis is joined by Budget Watchdog AF’s very own Josh Sewell to reveal the secrets of the awe-inspiring, disappearing debt limit trick. Magic or optical illusion? And the real truth about infrastructure and reconciliation.โดย Taxpayers For Common Sense

TCS President Steve Ellis and Senior Policy Analyst Josh Sewell investigate a mystery that should strike fear into the hearts of all taxpayers, “Extra Money.” Plus, BWAF listeners will get an introduction to the not-so-distant relative of “Extra Money," “More Credit.” Hit play and learn how American Taxpayers are confronted with the dual reality of…

This week we learn that a federal judge ruled against the Biden Administration, saying that it is up to Congress to pause new oil and gas lease sales on federal land. Plus, more than half a billion dollars in revenue is on the line for taxpayers when it comes to a major change in oil and gas royalty rates. TCS President Steve Ellis explores all the…

Are earmarks having a renaissance? Is the new system actually built for transparency and accountability? And will President Biden's real FY '22 budget please step forward? Budget Watchdog AF Host Steve Ellis is joined by TCS Senior Policy Analysts Josh Sewell and Wendy Jordan for an episode that can not be missed. Welcome to all American Taxpayers …

When it comes to climate change you don’t need to be steeped in the science. What you really need to understand are the staggering financial costs. Costs that one way or another find their way back to all of us – the taxpayers. Join Steve Ellis and Josh Sewell for a readout on an important congressional hearing this week looking into housing resili…

Every American Taxpayer needs to understand that trillions of your tax dollars will be spent in the coming decades on climate change costs –for damages, adaptation, and mitigation. On Earth Day 2021, Taxpayers for Common Sense breaks down the serious and avoidable financial threats posed by climate change. TCS Vice President Autumn Hanna and Senior…

After a decade of budget caps and mock budget discipline in President Trump’s budget requests, President Biden released his FY 2022 "skinny budget" request this week. And it really lets the belt out a few – or a lot – of notches. What’s the tale of the tape? Increases across the board! Every Cabinet Department sees a percentage increase in budget a…

President Biden's American Jobs Plan contains roughly $2.2 trillion in spending proposals across a broad swath of traditional and newly defined “infrastructure.” The 25-page plan is big on ideas and short on details. What to make of it? Senior Policy Analyst Josh Sewell joins TCS President Steve Ellis for the kind of discussion you will only hear o…

Is the F-35 too pricey to fail? Is the F-35 a platinum-plated spork? Taxpayers for Common Sense Senior Policy Analyst Wendy J Jordan joins Steve Ellis for a readout of the TCS cut list of legacy weapons systems that President Biden, Congress, and the Department of Defense need to come to grips with this budget cycle. Weapons systems recommended for…

Get the skinny on HR 22: The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021 & a candid analysis of the COVID-19 relief package known as the American Rescue Plan as Josh Sewell, Senior Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, joins Budget Watchdog AF host, Steve Ellis.โดย Taxpayers For Common Sense

Learn the facts, implications, and opportunities behind the Biden Administration's pause on Federal Oil and Gas Leasing. Autumn Hanna, Vice President and Energy & Natural Resources Lead at Taxpayers for Common Sense, joins Budget Watchdog AF host, Steve Ellis.โดย Taxpayers for Common Sense