For Immediate Release	Contact: Leslie K. Paige 202-467-5334
November 14, 2013	Alexandra Booze 202-467-5318

(Washington, D.C.) – Today Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its WasteWatcher, a monthly dispatch to members of the news media, highlighting some of the most prominent fiscal issues affecting American taxpayers.  The stories from November’s WasteWatcher edition are listed in part as follows:

Obamacare Rollout - It's More Than Just Glitches
Elizabeth Wright
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif), when queried on October 18 about the problems with the disastrous Obamacare online rollout on October 1, said:  There's no question that what’s happening with the systems, the national plans is something that has to be improved. They were overwhelmed by the traffic.  Okay, but now let’s see how long it’s going to take to have that be fixed.  Read the full story here

A Bittersweet Victory for CAGW
By Sean Kennedy
Ronald Reagan once said, “Government programs, once launched, never disappear.  Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!”  A corollary to that notion is that in the rare circumstance when a government agency or program disappears, it does not necessarily die.  Such is the case with the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), a missile defense system long opposed by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).  Read the full story here.

Return to Regular Order Budget Process
By P.J. Austin
On October 16, 2013, President Obama agreed to Congress’s plan to fund the government through January 15, 2014 and raise the debt ceiling through February 7, 2014.  The deal also included instructions to House and Senate leaders to appoint negotiators to meet and produce a long-term budget plan by December 13, 2013.  Read the full story here.

“Essential Waste"
By Matt Brown
The first government shutdown since 1996 began on October 1, 2013, spurred by a debate over the federal budget and Obamacare.  Approximately 800,000 federal employees were declared “non-essential” and furloughed.  Read the full story here.

CAGW Opposes Suspension Of Recovery Audit Contractor’s Program
By Leslie Paige
​CAGW today sent letters to members of the United States Congress, urging members in both chambers to immediately reinstate all recovery audits of short-stay inpatient claims. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a sub-regulatory guidance suspending RAC audits until March 31, 2014.  Read the full letter here.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.