The Sideshow -- August 3, 2004

Who will guard the Guardians? Washington has shelled out $24 million of your tax dollars to a private contractor who’s job it is to keep tabs on government spending on contractors. And it could make it harder--and more expensive--to find out how your money’s spent. The General Services Administration used to run the Federal Procurement Data System. Now a company called Global Computer Enterprises of Reston, Virginia is paid to do it.

It costs about $2,000 to download a year’s worth of contract data right now. Big newspapers, like the Washington Post would pay that price to have reporters look for shady deals. But there are reports the price could shoot up to tens of thousands of dollars -- enough to keep a lot of nosey watchdogs from nosing around.

Outta the Park! A subtle change in the corporate tax code Congress is considering could suddenly make professional sports franchises worth millions more on paper. It would allow them to write off a ton of taxes when the team sells. It could be worth up to $41 million dollars to the New York Yankees alone. Now, why in the world would Congress think about a special tax break for sports franchises? Could it be the more than $7 million dollars in campaign contributions since 2000?

Yeah, you’ll get a tax break. Florida lowered its gasoline tax by 8-cents on the gallon to ease pressure on overtaxed drivers. It was supposed to save drivers $60-million. Guess what. Many gas stations did NOT pass the savings along to the customers. They never lowered the price and pocketed the difference. The drivers still paid, the money didn’t go to repairing roads. It went to greedy people’s pockets.

Pity the Poor Oil Companies. Oil futures prices are up in record territory. Supply and demand? Oil companies only make pennies on the gallon, right? Then why are oil companies posting 20% to 50% increases in profits? Seems when times are bad for the rest of us, things are great for the oil companies.

Now Museum, Now You Don’t. This museum may have the greatest display of wasted tax money ever. Folks in Washington figured back in the 90s that folks would flock to a museum celebrating Washington, DC’s city history. They even presented Congress with a study showing 100,00 to 300,000 people would come in the first year. They went on about how attendance would hit 450,000 a year! So Congress shelled out $3.7 million to build it. But they didn’t come. A year after its opening, only 33,000 people have visited the museum.