Phillip Swarts

Golden Hammer: Medicare asleep at the switch with payments for studies

If thinking about wasteful government spending keeps you up at night, Medicare can help — for a scant $17 million. Published October 10, 2013

Red-blue split seen in wood-burning suit

Eight states Wednesday sued the Environmental Protection Agency over what they say is the agency's lax regulation of emissions from wood-burning heaters, the latest in a battle that's pitting red states against blue states over how much influence interest groups wield at the agency. Published October 9, 2013

Watchdogs defanged by government shutdown

The government shutdown is inconveniencing a group whose job it is to inconvenience the government. Published October 8, 2013

Golden Hammer: Federal spending that stinks: The Interior Department’s $98,000 outhouse

The latest example of misguided government spending smells a little funny — and it might not be just because of the cost to taxpayers. Published October 3, 2013

Shutdown has not shut off money tap for members of Congress

The government shutdown has placed thousands of federal workers on unpaid leave, but money is flowing to one group: Congress. Published October 2, 2013

Afghan prosecutors faulted for lax corruption efforts

In a country rife with corruption, Afghanistan's top prosecutors aren't doing enough to combat the top-level officials committing the crimes, said the chief U.S. watchdog in that nation. Published October 2, 2013

FBI now tries to manage with shutdown after sequestration

Already hit by budget cuts and sequestration, the FBI is now trying to figure out how to deal with the federal shutdown that has laid off employees deemed "non-essential" to protecting national security. Published October 1, 2013

Transportation Department program fails to root out bad contractors

A Transportation Department program designed to help women, minority and disabled owners compete for federal contracts, in fact, may be disadvantaging the very people it is intended to help by failing to root out bad actors. Published September 30, 2013

Golden Hammer: Army gun shopping spree came up empty

In the latest example of wasted tax dollars, the Pentagon spent a whopping $14 million to go shopping for semi-automatic rifles that the Army now acknowledges it doesn't need or want. Published September 26, 2013

Fannie, Freddie leave $4.6 billion in collectible foreclosures

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage finance giants whose financial woes required massive taxpayer bailouts in recent years, could be missing out on as much as $4.6 billion in payments from foreclosed mortgages in their portfolios, a federal investigator said. Published September 25, 2013

Air Force faces flak over handling of artworks, artifacts

The U.S. Air Force Academy may be facing a sequel to the famous government warehouse scene at the finale of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as the school faces criticism over its ability to keep track of thousands of historic pieces and valuable artwork. Published September 24, 2013

Terrorist organizations still profit from Afghan drug trade

Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist organizations are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from illegal drugs in Afghanistan, warned a report by the top U.S. watchdog in the war-torn nation. Published September 20, 2013

Golden Hammer: Radios sit in storage amid ‘critical’ calls; Homeland Security gets static

Even as U.S. Border Patrol agents were reporting "critical equipment shortages," the Department of Homeland Security let $28 million worth of radio equipment sit in a warehouse unused for more than a year, the agency's internal watchdog said. Published September 19, 2013

Lawmakers have not tightened travel belts, fly in the face of budget rhetoric

Washington is once again hurtling toward a budget crisis, but you couldn't tell from the travel itineraries of members of Congress. Published September 18, 2013

Secret Service arrests man for tossing firecrackers at White House

The Secret Service arrested a man for throwing firecrackers over a fence in front of the White House Monday, just hours after a shooting left more than a dozen people dead at Washington's Navy Yard. Published September 16, 2013

Navy family to rally after ‘horrific blow,’ Mabus vows

Saying the service had suffered a "horrific blow," Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Monday vowed Navy personnel would rally as a family from the attack that left 13 people dead at one of the Navy's oldest and most storied bases. Published September 16, 2013

Golden Hammer: IG says U.S. aid dollars unaccounted for in Afghan health program

A U.S. government program to improve public health standards in Afghanistan might have misspent as much as $190 million thanks to a "high risk of waste, fraud and abuse," though poor recordkeeping makes it difficult to know how much might have been lost, federal investigators say. Published September 12, 2013