RealClearInvestigations Articles

Topline: There are few families that need an advertisement to remind them to purchase a Christmas tree in December but, in 2011, officials at the Department of Agriculture decided an expensive marketing campaign was somehow necessary. The USDA awarded $75,000 for Michigan State University, the Michigan Christmas Tree Association and two other agriculture groups to launch “Make it a Real Michigan Christmas,” encouraging local families to ditch their artificial tree for a real one. The money would be worth $107,000 today. That’s according to the “Wastebook”...

Topline: The General Services Administration had its third-most expensive month ever for outside purchases this September, with $4.5 billion spent on items like footrests, deodorant and much more.  Key facts: The GSA manages transportation and supplies for nearly 8,400 federal buildings around the country, which will be well-stocked after the latest spending spree.  The average GSA purchase in September cost just under $33,000, but the spending quickly added up once over 143,000 invoices were approved. The agency spent $849.3 million on Sept. 29 and 30 alone, the last two days of...

Topline: A Long Island school district must pay its superintendent over $907,500 after he resigned without a public explanation this September, according to records obtained by Newsday through a Freedom of Information Law request. Key facts: The Plainedge Union Free School District paid Edward Salina a $662,352 lump sum for 184 unused sick and personal days and 286.5 unused vacation days. The district will also pay the remaining $245,185 of Salina’s salary for the 2025-26 school year. The salary is paid in bi-weekly installments, which will end if Salina takes a job at another school,...

Topline: Almost everyone knows that government spending has been increasing for years, but it can’t all be blamed on inflation and population growth. Historical data reviewed in a new Open the Books report shows that outlays per person have increased nearly 100 times since 1916, when it was a mere $208.36 per person adjusted for inflation. Key facts: The federal government spent $7.035 trillion in fiscal year 2025. Divided by the more than 343.6 million people currently in the country, that’s $20,474 in spending per person. It was slightly lower in fiscal year 2024, with $20,449...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week December 14 to December 20   Featured Investigation: Equal but Separate: How the Gender Divide Is Rewiring American Politics, Culture, and Civic Life Samuel J. Abrams and Joel Kotkin report for RealClearInvestigations that men and women are increasingly inhabiting separate psychological and civic universes, with profound implications for marriage, fertility, and democratic stability. The share of U.S. adults ages 25-54 without partners rose from 29% in 1990 to 38% in 2019. In 2021, one-quarter of 40-year-olds had never married. The gender...

Topline: Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer who defended an Al Qaeda terrorist and said the 9/11 hijackers were not “evil,” received $1.35 million in taxpayer-funded salary from the State of New York from 2017 to 2024, according to payroll records obtained by OpenTheBooks.com. Key facts: Kassem is a law professor at the City University of New York School of Law. He is currently serving in New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transitional team as a legal advisor. Since 2017, Kassem’s professorship has earned him at least $131,000 every year, including nearly $200,000 in 2024....

Key facts: Congress’ approval rating hit a then-record low of 11% in 2011, but for some reason the U.S. still thought it was qualified to tell foreign politicians how to boost their popularity.  The National Science Foundation spent $426,000, or $610,000 in today’s money, for two university professors to follow local politicians around India and study how telling citizens about their government affects politicians’ behavior. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined...

Topline: Obamacare administrators approved health insurance for 22 of the 24 fake customers created by auditors at the Government Accountability Office, failing a test set up by the government watchdog to test the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ ability to detect fraud. Key facts: The test began in October 2024 when the GAO used four fake profiles to apply for advanced premium tax credits, which help low-income Americans pay their health insurance premiums. Two of the fake profiles applied through Healthcare.gov and were approved for coverage based on fictitious...

Even as many scholars and pundits deny the differences between the sexes and vastly expand the concept of gender, society is increasingly dividing along these clear and simple lines.  Mountains of data and broad-based studies show that men and women increasingly inhabit separate psychological, relational, and civic universes that interpret adulthood, authority, intimacy, and obligation in profoundly different ways.  The most visible sign of this cleaving of the sexes is the steady decline of marriage and childbearing. The share of U.S. adults ages 25–54 without...

Topline: In 1917, Congress made private donations to universities tax-deductible to give alumni an incentive to support the education of future students. Lawmakers probably didn’t plan on helping line the pockets of fired football coaches, but that’s exactly what will happen this year. Fifteen universities owe a collective $228 million in severance to their former football coaches — shattering last year’s record of $121 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.  Scott Hodge, president emeritus of the Tax Foundation, first pointed...

Topline: Since 2013, the federal government has paid over $20 million to cover attorneys’ fees for organizations engaged in “sue and settle” litigation, according to new data obtained by Open the Books. Key facts: “Sue and settle” is an arrangement where a private party sues a federal agency, but the parties reach a settlement without ever going to court. The settlement is legally binding, which can allow federal agencies to create new regulations without ever consulting Congress. The practice is most common in the Environmental Protection Agency, which has...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week December 7 to December 13   Featured Investigation: DC Pipe Bomb Arrest Raises Questions About Christopher’s Wray’s FBI Julie Kelly reports for RealClearInvestigations that while one mystery appears to have been solved by the recent arrest of Brian Cole Jr. for allegedly planting pipe bombs near the DNC and RNC headquarters on January 5, 2021, another troubling question has emerged: why did it take the FBI five years to nab him? Concerns about whether political motivations might have played a role in the delay have been ignited by...

It’s a tale of two investigations. In one version – based on past comments by former FBI Director Christopher Wray – the arrest last week of Brian Cole Jr. as the individual who allegedly placed pipe bombs near the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee on Jan. 5, 2021, was the culmination of a dogged, five-year effort by the bureau.  In another version, suggested by Dan Bongino, the bureau’s deputy director, FBI agents revived a long-dormant case a few months ago, quickly tracking down Cole through an...

Topline: Nearly every university relies on donations from its former students, but those with alumni in the Senate can solicit money straight from taxpayers’ wallets. Twenty-four U.S. senators requested earmarks in the 2026 federal budget for the colleges they attended as students, totaling $614 million, according to Open the Books’ audit of congressional disclosures. Some of the earmarks have been removed during congressional debate, but others will make their way into the final appropriations bill Congress must pass before Jan. 31 to avoid another government shutdown.  Key...

Topline: In 2011, the Department of Agriculture fattened up the federal budget and New Yorkers’ stomachs with a $66,000 grant for a local farm’s high-fat butter. The Madison County farm was already producing 2-pound butter containers, but needed cash to buy a machine that could make half-pound sticks. Most of the $66,000 simply paid for smaller packaging. 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.  Waste...

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made reducing the homelessness crisis in California a top priority, saying the scale of the state’s efforts is “unprecedented” and calling for the continued expansion of his signature effort – Project Homekey – that has already cost $3.75 billion.  But in a state with more than 181,000 homeless individuals, or about one-third of the U.S. total, Homekey has been marred by failures and scandals, including a lack of government oversight and accountability as well as a federal investigation into allegations of fraud in Los...

Topline: A new program that gives unlimited free phone calls to Massachusetts prisoners cost taxpayers $12.5 million in fiscal year 2025, according to the Boston Herald.  Key facts: The program was meant to allow inmates to stay connected to their family members and other outside support systems, helping the rehabilitative process. It has not always had its intended effect. Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux told the Herald that inmates at the jail he oversees are using the free phone calls to “plan criminal activity.” He claimed he has seen an increase in witness...

Topline: Florida mistakenly spent an estimated $61 million to $110 million on private school vouchers for students that were still enrolled in public school during the 2024-25 school year, according to a recent report from the Florida Auditor General. Key facts: Florida began offering universal school choice in 2023, allowing all students regardless of income to receive taxpayer dollars to attend private school.  Participating families can register their children with a nonprofit “scholarship-funding organization,” which then reports to the state how many...

Topline: The Council on American-Islamic Relations has had a turbulent relationship with U.S. politicians. The nonprofit was recently designated as a terrorist organization in Texas, and a House bill sponsored by Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) would do the same at the federal level.  Not every state has taken the same approach. CAIR has received $30.8 million in federal, state and local taxpayer dollars since 2020, according to Open the Books’ database. Nearly all of the money came from California.  Key facts: CAIR’s stated mission is to “enhance understanding of Islam,...