RealClearInvestigations Articles

Topline: Most bus stops consist of a bench and some plexiglass but, in 2012, the City of Grants Pass, OR ,decided that wasn’t good enough. The mayor used federal funds on expertly designed bus shelters “with public art to make them an interesting and attractive place — something that was truly unique to the City of Grants Pass.” The city quickly had buyers’ remorse after realizing that burdensome federal grant regulations would drive up the cost, but it was too late. Five bus stops were built at a cost of $388,000, or $570,000 in today’s...

Topline: Starbucks is getting a “venti” sized handout from the State of Tennessee to build a new corporate office in Nashville. The company will receive $30 million in economic development grants funded by taxpayers. Key facts: The deal comes with several benefits for Tennessee. Starbucks says the office will create up to 2,000 jobs and represent a $100 million capital investment. The state told Channel 5 Nashville the grant contract has a legal clause allowing Tennessee to recoup its money if Starbucks fails to deliver on its promises, though the full details are not...

Topline: The company renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being paid $850,000 more than the typical amount for comparable federal contracting work, according to a report from The New York Times. The vendor was paid a premium for “accepting a difficult job on a tight deadline,” and the government never checked to see if another company would be cheaper. Key facts: Federal construction projects typically have profit margins of 6 to 12%, but Atlantic Industrial Coatings will make 20% profit for its work on the reflecting pool. The total taxpayer cost will be $13.1...

Topline: Lifeguarding in Los Angeles County is not just a way to soak up some sun at the beach. It’s one of the most lucrative public sector jobs in America. Thirty-eight lifeguards each made more than $300,000 in salary and benefits in 2025, according to payroll records obtained by Open the Books. The highest-paid was chief lifeguard Fernando Boiteux, who made $568,049. Key facts: Most of the top-paid lifeguards were employed by the fire department to work at Los Angeles’ largest beaches. The 164 full-time employees — those enrolled in a pension plan — made $41.2...

Topline: President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion budget request for the military is by far the largest in U.S. history, but under a law passed during Trump’s first administration, the Pentagon is required to tell Congress it’s too low. The Army, Navy and Air Force submitted unfunded priority lists totaling $3 billion for fiscal year 2027, according to Breaking Defense. Often referred to as “wish lists,” the reports ask Congress to fund additional items not included in the president’s budget request. Key facts: The Pentagon began submitting wish lists in the...

Alessandra Coote was walking on a trail with her 2-year-old daughter and dog two-and-a-half years ago when a man began yelling at her and threatened to kill her dog. When the petite single mom made it back to her Utah home, she decided she needed a firearm for protection. A few months later, while living in what she described as a “shady part of town,” a homeless man threatened her. After that encounter, she began regularly carrying a firearm under Utah’s Constitutional Carry law. Coote, who just graduated this spring from the University of Utah, says carrying the gun has...

Topline: The National Science Foundation does not usually advance its mission through musical theater, but officials once thought it necessary to spend $697,000 on a play about climate change and biodiversity. “The Great Immensity” ran for a month in Kansas City in 2012, and then for just one week in New York City in 2014. The NSF funding would be worth $1 million in today’s money. 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...

Topline: The taxpayer-funded San Francisco Zoo “does not have a healthy or stable financial condition,” according to a city audit released in May. The zoo has no written plans or budgets to guide its construction projects, and spent $12 million on them without city approval. Employees are also allegedly hiring their friends and relatives as contractors. Key facts: The zoo is required to get approval from San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Commission before paying more than $50,000 for a construction project. But employees never did so while spending millions on a new...

There’s hardly a ruler in the world who would identify as fascist, but if you trust the mainstream media, you will assume fascism is on the march. Mentions of the term have skyrocketed ever since Donald Trump emerged from the land of chandeliers; fascist mentions on cable reached unprecedented levels in the run-up to the 2024 election. Now, almost anything Trump does – from cracking down on illegal immigration to proposing construction of a victory arch – is seen by the Washington Post and others as fascist. Tellingly, the term has not just been...

Topline: The New York City Department of Education has spent $5 billion on rent to private landlords for school buildings since 2010 — including many that are vacant — a New York Post investigation found. Many of them are overpriced, and 28 preschools have sat empty for five years while the city continues to pay rent. Key facts: The city ordinarily owns its own school buildings, but $235.6 million was paid in rent to private landlords in 2024 alone, The Post reported. The city has paid more than $48 million since 2006 to rent a building in Queens that houses three high schools. It...

Topline: Maine’s largest ski resort has yet to pay back $153,000 in taxpayer money it received years ago to build a dam that never materialized. Franklin County officials recently voted to “lawyer up” and "aggressively" pursue repayment, according to the Maine Monitor. Key facts: The Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel started building a dam and reservoir at the Carrabassett River in 2018. During winters with little natural snowfall, the reservoir could be used to create snow and keep the resort’s skiing business going. Franklin County agreed to finance the project in 2020 to...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week May 24 to May 30   RCI Podcasts & Videos On The Miller Report: Real Clear Journalism, Maggie Miller interviews Jesse Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University, to discuss the future of energy, environmental realism, and what America’s energy system could look like in 2030 and 2050.   Featured Investigation: GOP Battles Sharia: Is Islamic Law a Threat or Dog Whistle? Paul Sperry reports for RealClearInvestigations that congressional Republicans, backed by President Trump and House Speaker...

Topline: Most of America’s military budget is spent on weapons and technology, but justifying the value of some other expenditures is a bit harder. The Department of War has spent $7 million on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs for active troops since 2021, including $1.8 million in fiscal year 2025. Key facts: The Defense Logistics Agency bought erectile dysfunction drugs 6,484 times, mostly from the wholesale company Cencora. Sildenafil — the generic name for Viagra — cost $3.2 million since 2021. The military also bought Tadalafil and several other kinds of ED...

Topline: The State Department meant well when it sent police experts to Iraq in 2012 to help train local law enforcement. But Iraq was not exactly a safe place for Americans at the time, and the absurd security costs made the whole venture seem completely pointless. Only 12% of the Police Development Program’s $400 million budget was spent on actual police classes. The remaining 88% was mostly spent on security guards and transportation for the 115 American teachers. The program cost $579 million in today’s money. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting...

Topline: One might expect that the companies developing advanced technology for Immigration and Customs Enforcement are led by gifted programmers with impressive resumés. But one firm with a $12 million no-bid contract from ICE seems to have no one leading it. Until recently, the company Edge Ops’ website claimed their lead programmer was Diya Das. It used a stock image with the description “Indian lady relax on sofa using tablet look at camera” as her supposed bio picture. Das has no listed biographical information, and there is no proof she is even a real...

In what they hope will become a hot-button election issue in the November midterms, congressional Republicans unnerved by the spread of Islam are holding hearings and proposing legislation to prevent immigrants who adhere to “Sharia law” from entering or staying in the U.S.  The lawmakers, who have the backing of President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, warn that unless mass immigration from nations like Afghanistan and Somalia is curbed, America will soon look like Europe, where critics say waves of Muslim migrants have formed “parallel societies” that...

One of the areas where Sharia law appears to be making inroads into American society is through the U.S. financial system. Under Sharia, or Islamic, law, charging interest (“riba”) on loans or earning interest on deposits is forbidden for even observant Muslims living in America, a strange anachronism in a country where interest- and credit-based finance is a cornerstone of the economy. According to Sharia-compliant fatwas, or rulings, recently issued by the Fiqh Council of North America, Muslims are prohibited even from investing in the stocks of any companies whose...

Topline: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says the digital tablets it provides to all prisoners are “tightly controlled education tools” that help inmates learn new technology skills and get “access to the Bible.” A City Journal investigation tells a very different story. Inmates use the tablets — purchased with $189 million in taxpayer funds — to watch pornography and send sexually explicit messages to each other and, allegedly, to minors. Key facts: City Journal spoke with dozens of death-row inmates and former prison...

Topline: President Donald Trump withdrew a lawsuit he had filed against his own administration — instead planning to create a $1.8 billion slush fund that would compensate alleged victims of Joe Biden’s “weaponization” of the legal system. The fund managers would not be required to give a public explanation of their spending, and Trump would be able to remove members of the commission running the fund without cause, according to ABC News. Key facts: The “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would be led by four commissioners appointed by the attorney general and one...