Only eight presents for Hanukkah, and there is no Santa Claus.

Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today described the nine remaining state attorneys general in the Microsoft antitrust case as engaged in wishful thinking in their new proposed remedy package.  The nine renegade states, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah, and West Virginia are continuing the litigation against the software company despite a settlement reached by nine other states and the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Who are these public officials kidding?" CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "While the holidays are here, there is no one — besides these AGs — generous enough to give such a gift to Microsoft’s competitors.  The proposal is pure fantasy, going far beyond the district court remedy, which was substantially narrowed by a higher court.”

“Taxpayers will continue to foot the bill for the time and effort in this case, having already forked over more than $35 million at the state and local level.  The remaining nine states and the District of Columbia have an average of $1.3 billion in budget deficits.  California alone is in the red by $9.5 billion, West Virginia is at $3 million, and Minnesota has ordered 10 percent budget cuts.  Citizens are justifiably angered in these troubled times by the continued misuse of their tax dollars on this litigation,” Schatz said.

“The details of the proposed remedy read like a competitor’s dream come true.  The nearly two-dozen provisions are three times as generous as the eight nights of Hanukkah,” Schatz said. 

The states propose a 10-year remedy, twice as long as the one agreed to by the nine other states, DOJ, and Microsoft.  During that time, every version of Windows would have to include Java, which is manufactured by Sun Microsystems.  Microsoft’s intellectual property would be available — essentially for free — to any competitor.  A Special Master would have extraordinary powers to decide whether Microsoft is violating the agreement, and anyone can complain anonymously.

“Pursuit of this matter is particularly wasteful since the same judge that would approve the settlement between DOJ and Microsoft is presiding over the state litigation.  If the AGs are really in the holiday spirit, they will stop misusing tax dollars on the Microsoft case and instead spend more time and effort protecting their citizens from terrorism,” Schatz concluded.

CAGW is the nation's largest taxpayer advocacy group with over one million members and supporters nationwide.  It is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.