(Washington, D.C.) – The nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), today issued a statement urging Congress to approve House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Resolution, titled Path to Prosperity.  Chairman Ryan’s bold plan would cut $6.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade compared to President Obama’s budget, which permanently projects huge baseline budget increases and accepts higher deficits well into the future.  Chairman Ryan’s budget would not raise taxes.  It would cut the deficit to under $1 trillion in FY 2012 and eliminate it entirely by 2040. 

“The era of institutional denial and magical thinking in Washington has got to come to an end now.  A decisive vote in favor of Chairman Ryan’s plan will transmit a strong signal to taxpayers that there are leaders in Washington who are unwilling to bury their heads in the sand and hope that our country’s fiscal woes will evaporate,”  said CCAGW President Tom Schatz.  “This budget is essential to saving the nation from a stagnant future.  It will cap non-defense discretionary spending at pre-stimulus levels, repeal the budget-busting elements of Obamacare, cut corporate taxes, trim the federal workforce, realign farm payments, and eliminate federal funding for foolhardy programs such as high-speed rail.  Each of these proposals has been championed by CCAGW in the past and would constitute important victories for taxpayers in their own right.

“This budget proposal stands in stark contrast not only to President Obama’s persistent support for more wasteful government spending and regulatory expansionism that has worsened our deficit and our debt, but also to the complete absence of forward-leaning leadership by congressional Democrats, who last year failed to even pass a budget.  While CCAGW would support even deeper spending cuts, we encourage every member of Congress to vote to adopt Chairman Ryan’s plan and reject any budget that doesn’t pull us away from the brink of fiscal disaster and put us back on the path of real recovery and growth,” concluded Schatz. 

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) 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.