“President Bush must use veto threats to check spending,” says Schatz

(Washington, D.C.)  The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) praised the Bush administration for threatening to veto a final surface transportation bill that included tax increases or questionable budgetary maneuvers.  Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Treasury Secretary John Snow made the announcement a day after President Bush submitted his budget to Congress.

“Members of Congress have already lined up to insert special interest provisions into the highway bill without any regard to cost,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Hopefully, the veto threat will stop the big spenders in Congress, and produce fiscally responsible legislation that will not harm taxpayers.”

In his budget, President Bush requested $256 billion over six years for surface transportation.  The Senate version, S. 1072, calls for $318 billion over the same period and adjusts the tax code to increase revenue.  The House, H.R. 3550, costs $375 billion over six years and is partly financed through an increase in the federal gas tax, which currently stands at 18.4 cents per gallon.

 “After the energy bill debacle and passage of the costly Medicare bill, it is time for Congress to be up front with taxpayers on what projects they will be funding in the highway bill and how it will be paid for.  Shifting subsidies from the Highway Trust Fund to the general Treasury fund, as proposed by the Senate, will hide the true cost and is very much like the accounting fraud committed by Enron,” Schatz continued.  “Increasing the gas tax will only strain the economy by forcing hard-working taxpayers to pay more at the pump.”

President Bush’s fiscal 2005 budget is an indication of the current fiscal climate.  The $2.4 trillion budget includes only a .5 percent increase for non-defense, discretionary programs, but will still run a deficit of $521 billion.

“The actions by the administration today show that the President is trying to throw down the gauntlet on outlandish Congressional spending,” Schatz concluded.  “If members of Congress continue to be fiscally irresponsible, the President must follow through on his threats and veto pork-laden, out-of-control spending bills, including the highway bill.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.