Senator James Lankford Federal Fumbles 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball Over the last 11 months, Congress and the new Administration have worked to roll back many of the burdensome regulations put in place by the last Administration and highlighted in previous editions of Federal Fumbles. Using the Congressional Review Act, which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, Congress was able to repeal 14 overly burdensome or needless regulations put in place during the waning days of the Obama Administration. As a result, the businesses or individuals affected by the regulations will save $34.8 billion and more than 4.2 million hours of paperwork. As is custom for new Administrations, in January 2017 the President ordered a temporary freeze on the implementation of new regulations. The Administration also reviewed existing regulations and found more than 850 regulatory actions that could be revoked or withdrawn. In just the first half of 2017, federal agencies withdrew or rolled back 469 agency actions that had been announced in the fall of 2016 and cut in half the number of planned regulations that will have an impact of more than $100 million a year on our economy. While we made tremendous progress in alleviating the regulatory burden on the American economy, we have work to do in reforming how the federal government utilizes your tax dollars. In FY16, the federal government collected $3.267 trillion in taxes. That includes income taxes, corporate taxes, Social Security, and unemployment. Unfortunately, it spent $3.852 trillion, a deficit of $584 billion. Since FY09, the federal government spent $7.2 trillion more than it has taken in.8 Congress has yet to agree on how to stop overspending, which is why the federal government is almost $20 trillion in debt today. As Congress and the Administration turn to a new year, it is incumbent upon both to display the courage and the willingness to make the difficult decisions that will rein in our out-of-control federal spending. It is unacceptable that a child born in the US today will become a citizen of a country in which his or her share of the national debt is more than $165,000. Without a major change in the way Congress operates, that amount will only go up in the years ahead. Included in Federal Fumbles is just a sampling of instances where federal agencies or departments have wasted or inefficiently used billions of your dollars. The program and grant funding discussed in this book has already been allocated or spent and cannot be recovered. But highlighting it here provides lessons for agencies and hopefully encourages Congress to utilize its oversight and legislative authority to prevent future waste and misuse of federal tax dollars.

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Oklahoma State Senator James Lankford examines 100 excessive and wasteful programs and regulations of the federal government. Each entry identifies whether it is either a spending or a regulation issue, names the federal government department responsible for its funding, provides the cost of the program or regulation, i.e. the government's "fumble", and how elected government officials should address the situation and "recover the ball."

In the tradition of Senator Tom Coburn's Wastebook, this is Senator James Lankford's Federal Fumbles: 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball Volume 3, 2017 Edition. Over the last 11 months, Congress and the new Administration have worked to roll back many of the burdensome regulations put in place by the last Administration and highlighted in previous editions of Federal Fumbles. Using the Congressional Review Act, Congress was able to repeal 14 overly burdensome or needless regulations put in place during the waning days of the Obama Administration. As a result, the businesses or individuals affected by the regulations will save $34.8 billion and more than 4.2 million hours of paperwork. As is custom for new Administrations, in January 2017 the President ordered a temporary freeze on the implementation of new regulations.3 The Administration also reviewed existing regulations and found more than 850 regulatory actions that could be revoked or withdrawn.4 In just the first half of 2017, federal agencies withdrew or rolled back 469 agency actions that had been announced in the fall of 2016 and cut in half the number of planned regulations that will have an impact of more than $100 million a year on our economy. While we made tremendous progress in alleviating the regulatory burden on the American economy, we have work to do in reforming how the federal government utilizes your tax dollars. In FY16, the federal government collected $3.267 trillion in taxes. That includes income taxes, corporate taxes, Social Security, and unemployment. Unfortunately, it spent $3.852 trillion, a deficit of $584 billion. Since FY09, the federal government spent $7.2 trillion more than it has taken in. Congress has yet to agree on how to stop overspending, which is why the federal government is almost $20 trillion in debt today. As Congress and the Administration turn to a new year, it is incumbent upon both to display the courage and the willingness to make the difficult decisions that will rein in our out-of-control federal spending. It is unacceptable that a child born in the US today will become a citizen of a country in which his or her share of the national debt is more than $165,000. Without a major change in the way Congress operates, that amount will only go up in the years ahead. Included in Federal Fumbles is just a sampling of instances where federal agencies or departments have wasted or inefficiently used billions of your dollars. The program and grant funding discussed in this book has already been allocated or spent and cannot be recovered. But highlighting it here provides lessons for agencies and hopefully encourages Congress to utilize its oversight and legislative authority to prevent future waste and misuse of federal tax dollars. All Members of Congress and their staffs should be able to utilize this book as they consider budget requests, hold oversight hearings, and discuss reform legislation. As the people's representative and voice in Washington, it is our responsibility to provide a check against the spending and regulatory habits of federal agencies. For federal agencies, this book provides multiple opportunities to improve their operations. Many of the grants highlighted in this book are instances in which agencies have funded projects either outside their domain or without a direct national interest. Several of the entries in this book involve instances in which agencies have spent taxpayer dollars before engaging in effective planning to ensure the item or program is feasible, cost effective, or even possible. That can and should be easily fixed. Americans rightly expect great things from their leaders in Washington. I offer this book as a guide for elected officials of both parties to identify areas of improvement so we may come together to do the work our constituents expect and our country deserves.

Many of the photos were removed due to copyright restrictions. Welcome to the first annual release of the Federal Fumbles report! Our national debt is careening toward $19 trillion (yes, that is a 19 followed by 12 zeros), and federal regulations are expanding at a record pace. Meanwhile families struggle to get home loans, and small businesses struggle to make ends meet. States are constantly handed unfunded mandates and executive fiats that they are forced to implement with minimal direction and no way to pay for them. I present this report as a demonstration of ways we can cut back on wasteful federal spending and burdensome regulations to help families, small businesses, and our economy begin to get out from under the weight of federal stagnation. Cited here are not only prime examples of wasteful spending, but also federal departments or agencies that regulate outside the scope of the federal government's constitutional role. I firmly believe my staff and I have the obligation to solve the troubles of our nation, not just complain, which is why for every problem identified, you will also find a recommended solution. There is a way to eliminate wasteful, ineffective, or duplicative program spending; develop oversight methods to prevent future waste; and find ways to get us back on track.

Federal Fumbles: 100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball Volume 2 2016 To address America's outrageous $19 trillion federal debt, we need a growing economy and responsible spending reductions in the federal budget. Senator Lankford's "Federal Fumbles: 100 ways the government dropped the ball" report is an annual collection of specific examples of wasteful federal spending, as well as negative regulatory impact to the economy. Lankford believes he has an obligation to solve the troubles of our nation, not just complain, which is why for every problem identified there is a recommended solution. There is a way to eliminate wasteful, ineffective, or duplicative program spending; develop oversight methods to prevent future waste; and find ways to get us back on track. In his second annual "Federal Fumbles" report, U.S. Sen. James Lankford details 100 examples of what he and his staff feel are inefficient uses of federal tax dollars, or ways that Washington has "dropped the ball." Some examples of alleged waste in the report: NIH spent $2 million studying how children perceive food, and specifically whether 5-year-olds will still eat food that has been sneezed on. A $200,000 grant to study fish consumption in Tanzania, and $500,000 to help locate ancient church cemeteries in Iceland. The U.S. Embassy in Britain spent $75,000 to have British citizens travel to America to watch volunteers. The U.S. wind energy industry still received $6 billion in annual federal subsidies. Three federal agencies combined to spend almost $500,000 on a medieval smells exhibit at a museum.

Americans are fortunate because they have one of the most effective governance systems in the world, yet the author analyzes and proposes more than two hundred other ways in which our governments can become more valuable and effective. To achieve this, it is vital to strengthen the bottom-up involvement of the American public to bring a new level of common sense and moderation and spirit of service while asking politicians to show more courage in making hard decisions.