(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), in recognition of Cost of Government Day, today expressed outrage at the federal, state, and local governments’ continued abuse of hundreds of billions of tax dollars in outdated, ineffective, duplicative, and wasteful programs and agencies.  Cost of Government Day is the date of the calendar year on which the average American worker has earned enough to pay off his or her share of tax and regulatory burdens imposed by all levels of government.  CAGW recommends that government at all levels take aggressive action to cut taxes and reduce regulations to diminish American families’ burden.

“Cost of Government is six days later this year than in 2001.  Such a trend is very disconcerting,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Taxpayers should be outraged by the government’s ongoing waste of their hard-earned money; it takes Americans 181 days just to pay off the cost of government.” 

Earlier this year CAGW identified $20.1 billion in federal pork projects, an increase of nine percent from last year’s total.  The money was spread out among 8,341 projects injected into the appropriations bills in fiscal year 2002, an increase of 32 percent.  The group also identified $1.2 trillion in savings over five years in its Prime Cuts report.

“Each year, as Americans struggle to earn more, the government invents new ways to increase its share,” Schatz said.  “The Cost of Government Day is today because appropriators have chosen to spend tax dollars on projects such as the study of fruit in Michigan and a tattoo removal program in California.”

Recognizing additional examples of waste, CAGW has called for an audit of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help eliminate the waste, fraud, and abuse that increase the cost of government. 

“On June 30, the USPS will raise the cost of stamps for the third time in three years, yet they are nearly $13 billion in debt.  The USPS Office of Inspector General identified more than $1 billion in wasteful spending, including top executives paying themselves more than $800 million in performance bonuses, despite such debt,” Schatz said.

“It is this type of waste that creates the high cost of government,” Schatz concluded.  “Hopefully there will be less wasteful spending and more fiscal responsibility in the future, and next year this day will come much sooner.”

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