RealClearInvestigations Articles

Topline: Smokey Bear is fond of reminding the public that “Only you can prevent forest fires.” But, in reality, federal funding for actual firefighters would probably be more effective. Yet since 2008, the Department of Agriculture has spent $482,000 for a giant hot air balloon shaped like Smokey’s head to appear at fairs and festivals around the country. The money is worth $657,000 adjusted for inflation. The expense was first highlighted in 2012 in the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a...

Topline: The City of Chicago has spent almost $160 million paying private lawyers to fight wrongful conviction lawsuits since 2016, but The Chicago Tribune found there is “little evidence that the strategy has paid off financially.”  The city usually ends up settling the lawsuits, giving taxpayers little reason to spend exorbitant amounts on legal fees fighting the suits. Key facts: The Tribune highlighted numerous examples of Chicago dragging its feet during legal negotiations, which typically drives up settlement costs and allows lawyers to bill more hours. Waste of...

RealClearInvestigations is welcoming applications for its new grant program which provides $20,000 to freelance reporters to develop and publish their best, deep-dive ideas. What we offer: $17,000 stipend for a 6,000 to 10,000-word article or series. $2,000 travel budget $1,000 photography budget What We Want: Ambitious, big-idea, granularly detailed pieces of investigative reporting. We support independent-minded journalists who will go into the field (hence the travel budget), observe closely, report deeply, and deliver a well-crafted story or series that surprises and informs readers...

Topline: $193.6 trillion is the most important number in the United States. That’s how much extra money will be needed to fund Social Security and Medicare indefinitely, even after all payroll taxes and premiums are collected. The Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Report of the United States Government, released on March 19, declared that “the current fiscal path is unsustainable,” and the government will be forced to cut benefits by 2033.  Key facts: The Treasury’s financial report has sounded the alarm on safety net programs for years, but the estimates are now more...

Topline: Maryland state employees earned a record $406 million in overtime last year, according to payroll records, backing up the findings of a recent state audit that found Maryland has no “comprehensive process” for monitoring overtime spending. Key facts: The state audit defines “excessive overtime” as more than 50% of an employee’s base salary. Open the Books’ records show 3,810 employees collected that much in 2025. There were 375 employees who each made more than $100,000 in overtime.  The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week March 29 to April 4   RCI Podcasts & Videos On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with the podcaster and investigative journalist Walter Curt about his efforts to identify fraud, waste and abuse in government spending. On The Miller Report: Real Clear Journalism, Maggie Miller interviews Susan Crabtree about her recent article for RealClearPolitics reporting that the agent responsible for planning security at the Butler, Pa., event where...

Topline: Alabama legalized medical marijuana five years ago, but not one person has received a treatment. A flawed licensing process developed by the state and attorney William Webster has created dozens of ongoing lawsuits. Taxpayers and small businesses have paid the price, but not Webster. Alabama paid his law firm $604,000 to represent the state in the legal battles caused by the flawed licensing process he helped design, according to a state audit released on March 20. Webster’s firm was only supposed to receive $400,000, but the state failed to monitor the contract and mistakenly...

Topline: In 2012, NASA set out to conquer a new frontier: the iPad App Store. App development proved to be more difficult than actual space exploration. NASA spent $1.5 million to make a video game called “Starlite,” but the full version was never released. The money would be worth $2.1 million today. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.  Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname...

The State of Texas has become as synonymous with crippling public school debt as it is with oil wells and tumbleweeds.  Its public schools have $148.3 billion in bond debt – the most of any state by far – that will eventually have to be repaid, along with an additional $88.3 billion in interest. For every dollar of borrowed money public schools use to improve education, they must give 59 cents to outside creditors, including large institutions such as Wells Fargo and State Farm, as well as hedge funds. This costly debt burden, which is lining the pockets of...

Topline: Regina Speaker and Sandra Edling, directors of the county office managing schools in Montgomery, Penn., recently took the trip of a lifetime: a 14-day African safari with zebras, elephants and more. Taxpayers footed the entire $18,000 bill in the name of “professional development,” according to records obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer. When asked how the safari was related to her job, Speaker told the Inquirer, “Everything was through the lens of leadership. It was about that process of survival of the fittest, and how are you a leader, and what do you...

RealClearInvestigations (RCI) has announced a new grant program for investigative reporters. At a time when journalistic resources are contracting across the country, RealClear is encouraging reporters to apply for grants of $20,000 to fund deep-dive reporting projects. Grantees’ work will be published on RealClearInvestigations.com, the go-to hub for in-depth, longform reporting from across the web. RCI’s editor, J. Peder Zane, said the challenges journalism is facing now provide a great opportunity for news outlets that remain committed to fair, accurate, and consequential...

Topline: Lawmakers added 1,090 congressional increases in back-door earmarks worth $34 billion into the Department of War’s budget for 2026, according to analysis from Taxpayers for Common Sense.  Like earmarks, congressional increases fund projects that were not requested by the president and often benefit congress members’ home districts. Unlike earmarks, they can be requested anonymously, and lawmakers do not have to certify that there are no conflicts of interest. Key facts: The congressional increases include rockets, tanks, high-altitude surveillance balloons and much...

Debates about immigration largely revolve around what happens with immigrants once they arrive in the United States. In his new book, “The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon,” bestselling author Peter Schweizer argues that Americans need to start talking about who is sending immigrants to our shores and why. Backed by years of forensic fieldwork and a trove of confidential documents and intercepted communications, Schweizer details how foreign leaders, global NGOs, and even drug cartels have turned the country’s welcome mat...

Topline: New York is the city where dreams come true — like making $325,000 to fix thermostats for the Department of Correction. That’s how much the city’s top-paid thermostat repairer made in 2025, mostly due to $200,000 in overtime.  Payroll records obtained by Open the Books show the city spent $2.9 billion on overtime in 2025 for its full workforce, with 2,140 employees earning at least $100,000.  Key facts: The New York Police Department spent $1.1 billion on overtime, and the Fire Department spent $568 million. But many of the city’s highest earners...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week March 22 to March 28   RCI Podcasts & Videos On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Jacob Siegel about his masterful new book, “The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control,” which details how technology and progressivism have helped give rise to censorship, surveillance and propaganda. On The Miller Report: Real Clear Journalism, Maggie Miller interviews James Varney about his RCI article (see above) on citizen...

Topline: The National Science Foundation is spending $67 million on software that will protect American research from cybercriminals in enemy nations like China. But it’s being built by two universities that accept gifts from China and have faculty members who collaborate with the Chinese military. Key facts: Texas A&M University and the University of Washington are leading the Safeguarding the Entire Community in the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE) program and will receive $50 million and $17 million, respectively.  Rep. John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on...

In “The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control,” Jacob Siegel traces how we reached the point where anything that contradicts the dominant narrative can be labeled dangerous disinformation. As he charts how the technological infrastructure built to make society safer and more rational has steadily replaced democratic freedoms with systems of digital control, Siegel reports that commercial Internet applications now double as military-grade surveillance and influence tools. In this excerpt, adapted from the book, Siegel describes how the rise of Donald Trump...

Topline: If the federal government wants to address homelessness, Rodeo Drive might not be the best place to start. That hasn’t stopped Beverly Hills — with no qualified low-income areas — and nearby Santa Fe Springs from receiving Community and Development Block Grants for years to fund homelessness services and job creation. City officials knew their neighborhoods were too wealthy for the grants back in 2012. They left the money untouched for years before eventually selling $206,426 in grant funds to other cities. The money would be worth $298,000 today. That’s...

Topline: More than 18,000 Arizona families used school vouchers to make an "unallowable” purchase in 2025, costing the state at least $10.3 million for banned items like condoms, Broadway tickets and wedding gifts, according to records obtained by the KPNX news station in Phoenix. Key facts: KPNX found that parents used school vouchers to buy $350,000 worth of tickets to live performances like Disney On Ice, The Lion King, Wicked and pop concerts. Some individual tickets cost $1,000. Families also spent $77,551 on rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. One family used $6,000 to send...