| Porker of the Month: Rep. John Mica |
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) Porker of the Month for his opposition to an earmark ban and defense of earmarks. According to the Orlando Sentinel, on July 8, Rep. Mica said, “There’s no way in hell I would support banning earmarks…That’s our job, getting elected and making decisions. Yes, there are bad earmarks, like there are bad members of Congress. And what you do is get rid of them.” Earmarking is not Congress’ “job,” as Rep. Mica claims. Before the 1980s, Congress would fund general grant programs and let federal and state agencies select individual recipients through a competitive process or formula. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees named specific projects only when they had been the subject of hearings and approved by authorizing committees. Members of Congress with local concerns would lobby the president and federal agencies for consideration. The normal budget process, which is aimed at preventing abuse and allocating resources on the basis of merit and need, has become a sideshow in the scramble by individual Appropriations Committee members to pick winners and losers based on seniority. For opposing an earmark ban or moratorium and defending the out-of-control earmarking process, CAGW names Rep. John Mica its July 2008 Porker of the Month. Read more about the Porker of the Month.
| CCAGW Slams “Coburn Omnibus” as Harry Reid's Sour Grapes |
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) has urged the Senate to vote against cloture on the Advance America’s Priorities Act, also known as the “Coburn Omnibus,” unless the spending in the bill is offset by spending cuts elsewhere. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has placed a legislative “hold” on more than 80 bills since January 2007 to force Congress to debate their merits and costs before subjecting taxpayers to billions of dollars in new spending. To circumvent the logjam, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has rolled 35 of the bills into one omnibus package costing more than $10 billion. In a letter to the Senate last week, CCAGW President Tom Schatz wrote, “The magnitude of Congress’ spending problem cannot be overstated. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2008, the budget deficit was $148 billion higher than in the previous year…This action is another attempt to rubber stamp more government spending…the Senate must carefully examine all the bills and decide whether the programs in question duplicate already existing programs, whether they actually benefit the intended recipients, and whether they are worth spending valuable tax dollars on.” Read more about the “Coburn Omnibus.”
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| CCAGW Denounces Housing Bailout Bill |
CCAGW this month strongly denounced the Bush Administration’s cave-in on H.R. 3221, The American Housing and Foreclosure Prevention Act, which the president is expected to sign into law this week. “The Bush Administration’s reversal on its veto threat on H.R. 3221 virtually ensures that taxpayers will be saddled with the huge costs associated with this bill for decades to come. There are so many bad aspects to this bill, it is almost impossible to know where to begin,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. The bill, which was already expected to cost $300 billion, was changed to include a rescue plan for the nation’s two housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, after they suffered an alarming stock slide on July 11. The GSE rescue plan, which is expected to cost $25 billion, places taxpayers squarely and explicitly behind the GSEs, but fails to address their critical long-term structural problems or lay claim to any future GSE profits on behalf of taxpayers. In addition, House Democrats resurrected a controversial $3.9 billion grant program that had been removed from the bill earlier due to opposition from President Bush. The grant program, designed to assist states and localities in purchasing foreclosed properties, will be just another slush fund for pork-barreling politicians. Read more about the housing bailout bill.
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| CAGW Observes Cost of Government Day, 2008 |
CAGW observed Cost of Government Day on July 16 by expressing outrage at the federal, state, and local governments’ continued waste of hundreds of billions of tax dollars on outdated, ineffective, duplicative, and non-essential programs and agencies. Cost of Government Day is the date on which the average American worker has earned enough to pay off his or her share of the tax and regulatory burdens imposed by all levels of government, according to the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation. “Today taxpayers have been released from state servitude and can begin to provide for themselves and their families,” CAGW President Tom Schatz announced. Americans now work more than half of the year - 197 days - to pay their share of the cost of government, with 84 of those days due to federal spending alone. This year, the average American needed to work an additional 16 days to pay off his or her cost of government compared to 2000 and four days more than last year. Read more about Cost of Government Day, 2008.
| CAGW Opposes FCC-Imposed Net Neutrality |
CAGW this month expressed opposition to news that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering levying sanctions against the Comcast Corporation for blocking some Internet traffic. “What the FCC is contemplating amounts to imposing network neutrality,” protested CAGW President Tom Schatz. Proposals for so-called “net neutrality” would have the federal government mandate that Internet service providers allow all traffic to flow, regardless of cost or need. Any government interference with or regulation of the Internet will require the requisite bureaucracy to manage, and the cost will be foisted onto taxpayers. Once a bureaucracy is created, it naturally expands, not contracts. Consumers have more Internet choices than ever before. Cable, satellite, and wireless broadband providers are competing head-to-head for customers and providing better services at lower prices. Coerced net neutrality would suppress such innovation. Pricing and web content are both means of competition. Without a plethora of consumer options, monopolies will arise and push out smaller companies. Read more about net neutrality.
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Tell Congress: End America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil!
Tell Your U.S. Rep. & Sens. to Publish Their Earmark Requests!
Tell Your Lawmakers: Sign the Earmark Reform Pledge!
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| Pork Advisory Level: Elevated |
Read more about the Pork Advisory System.
Read the monthly newsletter online. This month's issue includes the articles:
Deadly Earmarks
GSE Monster Mash-up
Special Interests before Taxpayers
Earmark Disclosure: Slow but Steady
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Tom Schatz on CNBC Tuesdays!
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CAGW President Tom Schatz is appearing on CNBC's "Squawk Box" every Tuesday at 6:50 a.m. EDT. Please tune in! (All media appearances are subject to change.)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 24, 2008): “No-Earmarks Pledge May Mean Less Federal Money for Ga.”
Des Moines Register (July 24, 2008): ”Some Challenge Culver's Flood Damage Estimate”
FOXNews.com (July 7, 2008): “Where Are Your Tax Dollars Going?”
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