RealClearInvestigations Articles

Topline: Drunk nightclub patrons might think they were hallucinating if a urinal cake suddenly started speaking to them. But in 2012, the phenomenon was a very real use of federal taxpayer money. The Michigan State Police used a $10,000 grant from the Department of Transportation on the odd campaign to remind men not to drink and drive. The money would be worth $14,473 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...

Mary, a veteran Silicon Valley marketer who can’t find a job, considers herself a victim of an H-1B visa program run amok.  Her story, a U.S. native replaced by a foreign-born employee who is willing to work at a significantly lower wage, has become commonplace, particularly in the tech industry. Adding insult to injury, she says, her CEO, who hails from India, told her to train the man he selected to replace her before laying her off.  Despite stints at Google and Cisco and two years of job hunting, Mary can no longer compete in a job market saturated with foreign-born H-1B...

Topline: The top 20 private universities received $22.3 billion in federal research grants and contracts in fiscal year 2025, but it appears some of that funding helped them grow their own cash reserves. A statistical analysis from Open the Books found a moderate correlation between 20 elite colleges’ per-student government funding and per-student endowment growth. Schools that received the most taxpayer funding from 2018 to 2025 were the most likely to see their endowments grow, sometimes by more than 200%. Key facts: The analysis included all eight schools of the Ivy League and other...

Topline: The Government Accountability Office’s 2026 annual report made 97 new recommendations for Congress to improve government efficiency and lower the risk of fraud and waste. There are still 513 recommendations from past years that Congress has yet to fully address. Key facts: The top recommendation is for Medicare to stop paying higher rates based on where a medical procedure is performed. Currently, Medicare pays more for operations in a hospital than the exact same procedure in a doctor’s office. Equalizing the rates would save almost $16 billion per year, the GAO...

Universities across the country are facing unprecedented government scrutiny of everything from the rise of antisemitism to the lack of viewpoint diversity in the left-leaning social sciences. Nowhere is the ideological battle over higher education more contentious and consequential than in Florida, home to the second-largest university system in the country. Florida’s crusade against progressivism has been more methodical and aggressive than anywhere else. Beyond setting up a civics program focusing on Western traditions, a trend in many other Republican-dominated states, Florida has...

Topline: The City of New Britain, Conn. is investigating Erin Stewart, its former mayor, for questionable purchases she made as mayor, including groceries, maternity clothing, party supplies and much more. Stewart also approved an annual $39,000 pension for herself despite only working in New Britain for 14 years, not the required 20 years. Stewart is currently campaigning for governor. As of May 12, she is the favorite to win the Republican nomination. Key facts: Stewart racked up $207,000 on her city credit card from 2016 to 2025. The Hartford Courant first reported the story, and it was...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week May 10 to May 16   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 Leighton Woodhouse about his article detailing how conservative legislators and influencers have joined with left-leaning animal rights activists to oppose scientific research using dogs.   On The Miller Report: Real Clear Journalism, Maggie Miller is joined by Senator Alan Armstrong from Oklahoma (R-OK) to discuss the “build baby build”...

Topline: The homelessness agency in King County, Wash., has a $45 million deficit, but auditors can’t fully figure out why, according to a state audit publicly released this April. Its accounting records are so poor that it’s impossible to track where portions of its money are being spent. Key facts: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority helps run shelters and outreach to the homeless population in 39 cities. It’s funded jointly by the county and the City of Seattle. Financial records claim that the city and county owe the Homelessness Authority $49.8 million...

The Biden administration may have failed to convince Congress to double Medicaid spending on home healthcare in 2021, but the funding increase occurred anyway. An RCI analysis of federal data has found that spending on the program, which pays health aides and family members to act as caregivers for elderly and disabled adults, nearly doubled between 2019 and 2024, to $46.4 billion a year – an amount nearly identical to the $50 billion per year Biden wanted. As a result, American taxpayers paid more than $217 billion for home-based care under the program during that five-year...

Topline: A night at the movies turned into a national scandal in 2012 when Dallas Independent School District spent $57,000 on a boys-only trip to see Red Tails, a World War II film directed by George Lucas of Star Wars fame. Female students were forced to stay at school and watch a movie about a spelling bee, prompting a federal Title IX investigation for gender-based discrimination. Ironically, no one made out better than the administrator who planned the field trip. She resigned with a $142,000 payout and became a private consultant. Waste of the Day 5.14.26 Open the Books The...

Topline: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University awarded $5 million in scholarships “without evidence of merit or need,” some of which were “deliberately funneled” to school employees and their relatives, according to a report by State Auditor Dave Boliek released on April 23. Key facts: The university collects fees from students for housing, dining and parking. They are supposed to fund administrative costs like facilities and human resources, not scholarships. But $73,063 was used to help a board member’s nephew cover tuition, the audit...

BLUE MOUNDS, Wisc. – Ridglan Farms, a breeder of beagles for scientific experiments, has withstood attacks from the animal rights movement for years. Activists have broken into its buildings to document the conditions inside them, rescued some dogs, and pushed Wisconsin authorities to cite the company for animal abuse.  On April 30, Ridglan finally buckled to the public pressure, handing the movement against animal testing one of its biggest triumphs. Big Dog Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy announced that the groups reached an agreement to purchase 1,500 beagles for...

Topline: The federal office overseeing Medicare hearings and appeals was significantly overstaffed, leading to $30 million in wasted resources in 2023 and 2024, according to a whistleblower complaint substantiated by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals has since laid off 185 employees. Key facts: In 2018, the office had 672 employees making $62.6 million, according to data obtained from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. That was not enough to deal with a massive backlog of claims from seniors arguing Medicare had wrongfully denied them...

Topline: Every taxpayer in North Dakota is losing money gambling on horse races, even those who never placed a bet. The state’s Racing Commission, a five-member board that ensures horse racing is fair and profitable, has awarded ill-advised grants and spent too much money on its own operation, according to a state audit released in April. Key facts: The Commission awarded 349 grants worth $2.9 million from 2021 to 2025, and the audit randomly reviewed 25 of them. Three of the grants went to racetracks that never applied for them, totaling $25,500. Another three went to recipients who...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week May 3 to May 9   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 Gary Saul Morson, a scholar of Russian literature at Northwestern University, about what Dostoevsky and Russian history can teach us about modern progressives.   Featured Investigation: Super Power To Spare: How Battery Tech Illuminates Competition Between U.S. & China James Varney reports for RealClearInvestigations that China's dramatic recent advances...

Topline: The Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general identified $200 million in improper payments that Medicaid made for autism services between 2019 and 2024 in Maine, Indiana, Colorado and Wisconsin. Until now, the four states had never audited the payments. Key facts: Improper payments are not necessarily criminal fraud, but they do mean the government sent money to the wrong person or for the wrong reason.   Medicaid as a whole made $37.4 billion worth of improper payments in 2025. But the ongoing audit of autism services, which began in 2022, found that...

Topline: Most football fans are likely jealous of anyone who can afford tickets to the Super Bowl, which typically cost thousands of dollars. But in 2012, fans watching at home were forced to cover the transportation costs of those with tickets to the big game.  The U.S. Department of Transportation gave the City of Indianapolis $142,419 in taxpayer money to offer free bus rides to Lucas Oil Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday and the three days leading up to it. The money would be worth $206,571 today. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S....

The most familiar races between superpowers are those involving dreaded killer weapons, but today the U.S. and China are engaged in another one involving a centuries-old invention that also improves life: batteries. One year ago, the Chinese battery giant CATL announced that it had redefined the limits of electric cars by creating a battery that could power a vehicle for 320 miles on a 5-minute charge. And in March, the world’s largest EV maker, China’s BYD Auto, unveiled a car that could also be charged in less time than it takes to fill a traditional car with...

Topline: The Army and Navy found 14 weapons systems that had “critical cost growth” in 2023 and 2024, meaning it will cost at least 25% more than expected to maintain them until they are defunct. The cost overruns total $695.2 billion, according to data in an April report by the Government Accountability Office. Key facts: The weapons are already built, but repairing and operating them is typically expensive, according to the GAO. Not all of the cost overruns are an issue, because some of the weapons will last longer than initially expected, thus justifying the added cost. A fleet...