Seattle sued over recycling inspectors keeping tabs on residents' trash

When it comes to garbage, the city of Seattle has launched a waste war.
Nine full-time solid waste inspectors have been hired as part of a controversial program to check city trash to make sure people are recycling. Additionally, contracted waste haulers have been effectively deputized as trash police, given the authority to tag bins when people fail to recycle and compost enough.
The program is now the subject of a lawsuit, as residents fume over what some call an intrusive government program.


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American recycling is stalling, and the big blue bin is one reason why

Tucked in the woods 30 miles north of Washington is a plant packed with energy-guzzling machines that can make even an environmentalist’s heart sing — giant conveyor belts, sorters and crushers saving a thousand tons of paper, plastic and other recyclables from reaching landfills each day.

The 24-hour operation is a sign that after three decades of trying, a culture of curbside recycling has become ingrained in cities and counties across the country. Happy Valley, however, it is not.


Once a profitable business for cities and private employers alike, recycling in recent years has become a money-sucking enterprise.


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Feds Can’t Verify $2.8 Billion in Obamacare Subsidies

The federal government cannot verify nearly $3 billion in subsidies distributed through Obamacare, putting significant taxpayer funding “at risk,” according to a new audit report.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an audit Tuesday finding that the agency did not have an internal system to ensure that subsidies went to the right enrollees, or in the correct amounts.


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Hawaii’s $205M ObamaCare system on life support, critics fear ‘complete waste’

Federal taxpayers dumped more than $205 million into Hawaii's ObamaCare insurance exchange, but after a steady downward spiral the once-highly praised Hawaii Health Connector is on life support.


The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has already restricted grant funds to the Hawaii Health Connector, after telling officials in March it was out of compliance with the Affordable Care Act because of fiscal instability and ongoing IT issues.


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OK, We Admit It: ObamaCare Is Working!

Health Reform: President Obama is right about ObamaCare — "This thing is working." It's working just like critics said it would, and nothing like its supporters promised.  High and rising premiums. Runaway costs. Rampant waste. Workers shoved into government-run exchanges. That's what critics said would happen should ObamaCare remain the law of the land.  And on every point, these critics were viciously attacked by the White House and its amen chorus in the press. But on each, the critics are being proved right while the law's backers try to change the subject.

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Government's Empty Buildings Are Costing Taxpayers Billions

On a street corner in downtown Washington, D.C., David Wise is opening a century-old iron gate in front of an old, boarded-up brick building.

Wise is an investigator for the Government Accountability Office, the government's watchdog group. His mission is to figure out why the government owns so many buildings, like this one, that it doesn't use.

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