Moves in the right direction on taxes and security,

but needs more cuts and reform

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today reacted to President Bush’s 2004 federal budget proposal with two cheers.

“First, the president gets a big cheer for putting stimulative tax cuts at the top of his priority list,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Combined with growth-oriented monetary policy, lower taxes are the best way to invigorate economic vigor, which increase revenues to federal coffers.  Balanced budgets stem from economic growth, not the other way around.”

“Second, the president deserves a cheer for increasing dollars for defense and homeland security while restraining overall budget growth to four percent,” Schatz continued.  “To accomplish this, the White House calls for spending reforms and cuts, including freezing spending for the Army Corps of Engineers and agriculture, zeroing out the COPS program, which has served its purpose and is being supplanted by first-responders money, zeroing out Education earmarks, and keeping pork out of the Homeland Security budget.  CAGW applauds OMB Director Mitch Daniels for his yeoman’s work on taxpayers’ behalf.”

CAGW is also pleased the president’s budget emphasizes federal programs’ results by issuing, for the first time in many years, a separate Performance and Management Assessment report.  The report contains scorecards for major federal agencies, as well as a new Performance Assessment Rating Tool for 20 percent of all federal programs, to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the programs with a focus on results.  For example, the Department of Labor is currently doing the best job among the major departments in meeting the standards of success in areas such as human capital, financial management, and electronic government. 

“While management reports are not the most exciting part of the 1200-page budget, they are the best indicators that the Bush Administration is taking seriously its initiative to reform the government and improve the performance of federal programs,” Schatz said.

“But, CAGW withholds its third cheer because there is so much more to be done to truly reform and cut wasteful federal spending,” Schatz also said.  “At a time of $300 billion deficits, about 3 percent of GDP, when government costs $7,000 per American, it is time to boldly cut government spending.  Even with President Bush’s improvements, the federal budget remains rife with duplication, waste, mismanagement, pork, and corporate welfare.”

“CAGW continues to call for on the president to empanel a private sector, non-partisan Government Waste Commission, similar to President Reagan’s Grace Commission, to audit all federal programs and agencies,” Schatz added.  “The commission would report back with a list of government programs to trim within one year.  Like the successful Base Realignment and Closure Commission of the 1990s, which effectively shut down dozens of military bases to save taxpayers $15 billion as of 2001, the Government Waste Commission’s final recommendations would be submitted to Congress en masse for a mandatory up or down vote.  By CAGW’s estimate, such government-wide reforms would save at least $1.27 trillion over five years.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.