Membership in Action
September 30, 2009
by: Martin Rundle

Government WasteWatch, Fall 2009

Under the auspices of our affiliated lobbying organization, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), our 100,000 online activists have been busy petitioning their elected representatives at the state and federal levels.

One favorite gimmick cash starved states use to generate revenue is excise taxes.  Name a government program that needs funding and no doubt some lawmaker will find a product or service to tax to help pay the tab.  Favorite excise tax victims include alcohol and tobacco products, but in recent years lawmakers have become more creative in their tax proposals, taking aim at hotel rooms, heating fuel, and online music and video downloads, among other goods and services.  While excise taxes are designed to bridge budget shortfalls, in reality they are nothing more than fool’s gold.  Time and again, history has shown that higher excise tax rates do not produce projected revenue.  In fact, of the 57 excise tax increases states enacted between 2003 and 2007, only 16 met or exceeded revenue targets. 

Over the past several months, CCAGW members have voiced their opposition on a number of excise tax proposals in the states, and we are proud to announce the following victories:   
   
In California, CCAGW members sent more than 6,600 e-mails to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators to help defeat a proposal to raise the state cigarette excise tax by $1.50 per pack.

In Illinois, CCAGW members sent more than 2,700 e-mails to Gov. Pat Quinn and state legislators to help defeat a proposal to double the state’s excise tax on cigarettes.
 
In Minnesota, CCAGW members sent 600 e-mails to Gov. Tim Pawlenty and state legislators to help defeat a proposed $0.54 increase to the state’s cigarette tax.

In Utah, CCAGW members sent nearly 300 e-mails to Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. and state legislators to help defeat a proposed 330 percent per pack cigarette excise tax increase.

In addition, more than 22,500 CCAGW members e-mailed their House representative opposing the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which would institute a cap-and-trade program to lower greenhouse gas emissions by giving the federal government the power to limit the amount of oil, gasoline, coal, and other fossil fuels used by American utilities and industry.  In reality, the bill will cost an estimated 1 to 2.5 million jobs, slow economic growth, and burden the average family with $1,500 in higher energy expenses annually.  Estimates indicate that Americans will pay 74 percent more for gasoline, 90 percent more for electricity, and 55 percent more on their natural gas bills.  Although the bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 219-212, it has now stalled in the Senate.

To add your voice to CCAGW’s growing army of taxpayer activists, please sign up at www.ccagw.org. 
   
Taxpayer News Wire

May 19 – In conjunction with the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released the 2009 Louisiana Pork Report at the Louisiana State Capitol Building.  The report details government waste boondoggles uncovered in Louisiana, including $29.8 million in overtime in 2008 to state workers at the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Louisiana State Police Department; $4 million to the Tournament Players Club, a golf course owned by the PGA TOUR; and $230,000 for six museums, including the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame and Museum.  The report is available at www.cagw.org.

May 21 - CAGW named House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and House Energy and the Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) its May Porkers of the Month.  They are the ringleaders behind H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA), the Waxman-Markey bill.

May 21 – In conjunction with the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, CAGW released the 2009 Tennessee Pork Report at a press conference at the Tennessee State Capitol.  Among the wasteful morsels uncovered in this year’s edition:  $9 million for the “Party Bunker,” an underground entertainment facility buried in the front yard of the Governor’s Mansion; $2.3 million to bailout 11 insolvent state-owned golf courses; and $482,572 to fund the “Barge to Nowhere,” a ferry that carries fewer than 17 passengers per day.  The report is available at www.cagw.org.

June 12 – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) blasted members of the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee after they voted to authorize $603 million for an alternate engine program for the F 35 Joint Strike Fighter in the fiscal year 2010 Defense Authorization bill.  The Pentagon has tried to cancel the $7.2 billion alternate engine project every year since 2006 but members of Congress have kept it alive with earmarks.

June 18 – CAGW named Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) its June Porker of the Month.  Rep. Waters provoked a tussle with House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) over her intention to obtain an earmark for the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center, a facility within the Los Angeles school system. 

July 24 – CAGW Vice President for Policy David Williams participated in a Capitol Hill policy briefing discussing the PASS ID Act, which has renewed the debate about whether the United States should have a national ID system.

July 29 - CAGW named Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) its July Porker of the Month.  Rep. Carnahan, who was caught on videotape by a vigilant citizen blogger at a town hall meeting held at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, grossly misrepresented the costs associated with the controversial healthcare reforms bills currently under consideration in Congress.  His statements were so patently false members of the audience reacted with disbelief and loud guffaws.