Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the following letter to Attorney General  Stovall regarding the Microsoft antitrust case:

On behalf of the one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), including the 9,800 in Kansas, I would like to express my concern that your state has not settled the Microsoft antitrust case with the nine states that have agreed to do so.

Kansas is now faced with a budget shortfall of $113.4 million less than lawmakers thought would be available when they passed the budget in May.  As a result, new revenue or offsetting savings in other programs will have to be found if school improvements are to be made.  In addition, the farm economy is slowing down sharply and the aircraft industry is expected to lose 4,000 jobs through layoffs by the end of the year, with an additional 3,000 jobs next year.  It has also been estimated that another 1,600 more job losses would come from airline industry subcontractors.  The question is: Where will the money come from to pursue the Microsoft case? 

It appears from your talks with industry experts that you are leaning more towards the welfare of Microsoft's competitors than the taxpayers of Kansas.  I would encourage you to meet with representatives of taxpayer and consumer groups, who are constantly referred to as the beneficiaries of continued litigation. 

General Stovall, in these troubled and threatening times, CAGW and our members and supporters in Kansas are disturbed by the prospect of using the precious resources of the state to continue this litigation.  This is an opportune time to shift the resources spent pursuing Microsoft to homeland security, which is a matter of life and death, as opposed to a fight over market share.  We hope you will do everything in your power to bring an end to this litigation and agree to the settlement that was reached on November 6.

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.