How Not to Make an Example

I wanted to highlight one other thing from ProPublica's article on the "two-time loser" list, a nugget which I think was buried in the article. According to earlier OMB guidance, the main recourse agency officials have to punish repeat offenders is the revocation of federal funding, and we haven't heard whether agencies have used this stick yet. But ProPublica quotes OMB spokesman Tom Gavin as saying that, thus far, one, and only one, organization has suffered this fate. Want to guess which greedy, no-good corporation is flaunting the will of Congress, and which is being singled out as a rule-breaker? Maybe Xe? Wal-Mart? ENRON!?!

Nope, it's those money-grubbing child hunger advocates, Share Our Strength [1]. While I applaud the federal government for cold-heartedly applying regulations, I'm not sure if a non-profit aimed at helping those who literally can't help themselves is really the best group to make an example of. Especially when it sounds like they're just as confused about how to report as thousands of other recipients. Regardless, Share Our Strength now has about $90,000 fewer dollars to help poor kids eat nutritional meals.