CAGW Wraps Up 2004 with Seinfeld-Inspired Holiday

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today marked its first celebration of Festivus to acknowledge the disappointments and successes of 2004.  In the sitcom Seinfeld, Festivus is a fictional holiday invented by Frank Costanza (George’s father) to protest the commercialization of other December holidays.  The Festivus dinner begins with the Airing of Grievances, where the celebrant tells family and friends all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year.  Similarly, CAGW will now tell politicians all they ways they have disappointed taxpayers over the past year.  Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned by another participant in the Feats of Strength.  Likewise, CAGW will end Festivus by recognizing the times taxpayers triumphed over Washington’s big spenders.

The Airing of Grievances

The federal government ran a record $413 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year 2004.  Congress responded by passing the bloated 2005 omnibus budget package that was bursting with more than 11,000 pork projects.   The House of Representatives shot down budget  reform with the defeat of the Spending Control Act of 2004.   The $136 billion corporate tax bill, the giveaway of nearly $7 billion worth of public spectrum to Nextel, and the stuffing of the hurricane relief package with pet projects also constitute heavy grievances for taxpayers. 

The Feats of Strength

Boeing Lease Deal Scuttled:  On October 10, Congress barred the Air Force from pursuing a proposed $23.5 billion deal to lease 100 Boeing aerial refueling tankers.  As one of the earliest and harshest critics of this corporate welfare giveaway, CAGW kept up relentless public pressure to abandon the deal, generating tens of thousands of letters from our members in opposition.  These efforts helped spur a federal investigation, the resignation of Boeing’s chief executive and a nine-month prison sentence for a former Air Force procurement official. 

Avocado Import Restrictions Lifted:  The Department of Agriculture ruled in favor of more than 9,000 CAGW members who called for lifting restrictions on the import of Mexican Hass avocadoes, which inflate the cost of avocadoes to American consumers by as much as 37 percent.  This was another step in CAGW's drive to dismantle long-standing trade barriers and subsidies that benefit big agribusiness at the expense of consumers and taxpayers.  (“A Festivus for the rest of us!”)

USPS Drops Cyclist Sponsorship:  CAGW’s criticism led to the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) ending its multi-million dollar sponsorship of Lance Armstrong’s Pro Cycling Team.  At the time of the contract, the agency was losing money even while raising postage rates.  USPS claimed the sponsorship generated $18 million; it was found to generate only a measley $684,000.

Defense Travel System Exposed:  CAGW’s investigative report detailing the cost overruns and performance failures of the Department of Defense’s $470 million Defense Travel System (DTS) prompted several other federal agencies to announce they would not adopt the DTS.  (As Kramer would say, “Another Festivus miracle!”)

The denial of United Airlines’ request for $1.1 billion federal loan guarantee, the three-year extension of the Internet tax ban, and the preservation of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process in 2005 were also victories for taxpayers. 

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.