(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, criticized President Obama’s absurdly expensive fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget for doing too little to reduce the deficit and undoing recent progress toward slowing the growth of government.  The budget’s fantastical projections of deficit reduction rely on unwarranted tax hikes, bogus baseline budgeting, and pie-in-the-sky estimates of future economic growth.

By promising to increase spending by less than was initially planned, President Obama ends up raising spending over FY 2013.  That accounting trick allows him to refer to this year’s budget as “a compromise [he] is willing to accept,” rather than a partisan bargaining chip.  The President includes a tax increase of $600 billion over the next 10 years, but the Senate Budget Committee minority staff expects that total will instead be $1.1 trillion.  By rejecting sequestration, the budget raises spending by $61 billion this year and $154 billion next year.  Even in the fantasy world of baseline budgeting, the President’s proposed $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years amounts to just 3.2 percent of annual spending.  However, the Senate Budget Committee estimates the cuts will be only $119 billion, which is one of many reasons why the President’s budget never balances. 

The President’s agenda is similarly misguided on new spending.  His Preschool for All initiative, which would replace the ineffective Head Start program, would do more of what government already does badly.  Worse, it would be funded by a tax increase on tobacco products that will fall hardest on lower-income individuals and their families and never raise the projected revenue.  Despite already being rejected by Congress on his plans for high-speed rail, the President again proposes billions for that initiative.  He also refuses to acknowledge the waste, cronyism and bankruptcy associated with green energy projects; instead, he has requested even more money. 

“While the President’s budget is excessively expensive and increases the debt by $8.2 trillion, there are a few items that must be taken to heart by Congress,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “For example, the FY 2014 budget contains no future funding for the much-maligned Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), a program that CAGW has long fought to terminate.  The President’s ‘Cuts, Consolidations, and Savings’ include several proposals endorsed by CAGW in its Prime Cuts database, such as the Department of Justice’s National Drug Intelligence Center and the Department of the Interior’s National Heritage Areas. 

“Further, the President’s budget would stop the Department of Agriculture’s catfish inspections, which are already performed by two separate agencies; while consolidating the federal government’s 220 science, technology, engineering, and math education programs, which cost $3.1 billion annually and are funded across 13 different agencies.  President Obama seems to have at least glanced at the Government Accountability Office’s reports on duplicative programs.  Nonetheless, he chose to leave untouched the 50 financial literacy programs, 53 entrepreneur support programs, and 14 diesel emission reduction programs,” Schatz concluded.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.  To learn more, visit www.cagw.org.