A La Chart

Want to ward off the post-Christmas blues? Pile the family into the minivan for a Pork Vacation Tour spotlighting critters that are eating into your household budget. Watch a bevy of bugs and beasts –- from beetles to beavers and crickets to rats –- gobble up your tax dollars. Members of Congress stuffed 9,170 budget-busting "earmarks" into the omnibus spending bill to commit billions to such pet projects. Now they're happy for you to write the check.

#014 - Go hog wild for Christmas on a Pork Vacation Tour - December 11, 2007

A little strapped for cash this Christmas? Here's an idea: Congress is spending your money like crazy, so why not take the family to see stuff you've already paid for? This holiday season, plan your own Pork Vacation Tour. Visit just a few of the 11,300 exciting pork-barrel projects tucked away in the House and Senate spending bills. Explain to the kids that -- no matter where you live –- you paid for it.

#013 - A tax plan that costs millions of jobs - December 3, 2007

#012 - 11 U.S. terror plots thwarted in two years - November 13, 2007

Since Sept. 11, 2001, authorities have acknowledged foiling 19 terrorist plots to attack targets in the United States and kill Americans. Counterterror efforts thwarted 11 of the plots since mid-2005, analysts note, suggesting not only that al Qaeda and other terror groups remain intent on carnage but that law enforcement agencies and the public must stay vigilant.

#011 - U.S. on collision course to 'socialized medicine' - November 5, 2007

Government is picking up more and more of America’s medical bills. And the bills get bigger each year. Total spending on personal health will nearly double over the next eight years, to more than $4 trillion. At that point, government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP will account for about half of all health spending -- and overburdened taxpayers will be less free to choose superior private insurance for their families.

#010-Health Care Plan 'Crowds Out' Family Coverage-Oct. 3, 2007

Congress has two options, now that President Bush has vetoed its effort to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) well beyond the original purpose of providing health insurance to poor children: 1) Keep posturing over which politicians most want to help kids in an election year. 2) Pass an alternative that actually helps struggling families afford health insurance for their kids – and allows each side to claim some victory. (more)

#009-National Debt Hits Record $9 Trillion-Sept. 10, 2007

That total — equal to $29,700 per American and $78,683 per household — is the amount as of Sept. 19 that the federal government has borrowed from the public as well as its own accounts such as the Social Security Trust Fund. If the government paid $1 billion a day toward the debt, it would take 25 years to pay off.

#008 - Four Percent for Freedom-August 15, 2007

Even while fighting a global war on terrorism, the U.S. spends much more on leisure pursuits than on national defense. Each year, Americans shell out more on pleasure trips than our government does on the armed forces. The Heritage Foundation warns that current defense spending levels will leave our nation ill-equipped to meet the security threats of tomorrow. Heritage experts recommend an annual defense "investment" of at least 4 percent of GDP to secure our freedom. (more)

#007 - Navigating a Dire Strait-July 25, 2007

What if Iran made good on threats to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, gateway for 25 percent of the world's oil? In a worst-case scenario, the price of crude oil could more than double in nine months (increasing $85 to a total of $150 per barrel), according to a war-gaming analysis by The Heritage Foundation. Such a blow would seriously disrupt the U.S. economy, eliminating more than a million jobs. But, Heritage also found, America could limit the damage with military, diplomatic and budgetary initiatives that quickly hold the spike in oil prices to $12 a barrel and stabilize the economy within a year. (more)

#006 - Top 10 Urban ‘Farmers’ -July 16, 2007

It’s no surprise that farmers who reap the biggest federal crop subsidies live in rural areas. It’s a bit of a shocker, though, that plenty of city slickers — some related to each other — are among the 350,000 folks who culled bushels of cash out of the $25 billion in annual subsidies. The “Top 10” subsidy recipients who live in big cities raked in from $743,500 to $1.2 million in 2003-2005. (more)

#005 - Paying for the Energy Bill -June 21, 2007

The Senate energy bill could more than double gasoline prices over the next decade, an analysis by The Heritage Foundation shows — straining family pocketbooks for years to come. In 2016, Heritage estimates, the average driver would pay almost $1,600 more at the pump because of mandates in the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection and Energy Efficiency Act. (By the way, that’s half of what the typical family of four currently spends annually on health care or clothing.) (more)

#004 - SCHIP: No Child Left Off Welfare- June 15, 2007

Nearly three out of every four children in America could be eligible for government run health care by 2012, if Congress goes along with expansions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. SCHIP was created 10 years ago to help states cover medical treatment for low-income kids. Now some lawmakers want to turn it into a taxpayerfunded, middle-class entitlement. One proposal would grant the benefit to households earning up to four times the level of poverty — or $82,600 a year for a family of four. (more)

#003 - High Cost of Low-Skill Immigrants- May 22, 2007

The value of government benefits provided to low-skill immigrants far exceeds the taxes they pay, no matter how old the head of household. On average, each of these 4.5 million households receives nearly three dollars in taxpayer-funded services for every dollar it pays in taxes. (more)

#002 - The Taxpayer Knows - May 11, 2007

Voters notice when Washington politicians raise their taxes — and they don't like it. When tax rates go up, so do complaints about taxes being "too high." After the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, though, those who saw taxes as "about right" hit a 50-year high of 46 percent. (more)

#001 - Tax Cuts at Work - April 10, 2007

The 2003 tax cuts sparked and sustained a growing economy that has created nearly 9 million jobs so far. Total employment grew from 137.4 million jobs in January 2003 to 146 million jobs in January 2007. (more)