Membership Update
December 15, 2009
by: Martin Rundle

Government WasteWatch, Winter 2009

Taxpayer Victory in Longmont Colorado!

In August, the city council of Longmont, Colorado, proposed a ballot measure (Ballot Question 2C) to allow the municipality to provide telecommunications and cable television services.  Other municipalities across the country have entered the telecom business, undertaking an enormous amount of risk.  Studies, including those commissioned by the communities themselves, have shown that such “overbuild” systems generally do not work.  Instead, they prove to be far more costly than expected for taxpayers.  In addition, they are difficult for municipalities to upgrade, tend to be noncompetitive, and rarely survive.
 
In October, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) contacted 492 of its members in Longmont, urging them to oppose this ballot initiative.  We are happy to report that the ballot proposal was soundly defeated, with 57 percent of voters opposing Ballot Question 2C.

Become a CAGW Online Taxpayer Activist
The right to petition your elected officials is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and today’s technology is making it easier for taxpayers to exercise that right.  If you are tired of the government wasting your money, we urge you to become a Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) Online Taxpayer Activist today.  In 2009, our more than 110,000 online activists have made their voices heard on such national issues as the economic stimulus bill and the current healthcare and cap-and-trade energy debates, as well as dozens of state issues.  As a CAGW Online Taxpayer Activist, you will receive our monthly newsletter, “E-News from CAGW,” which is sent exclusively to our online members.  Please visit www.cagw.org and register today!
              
Stocking Stuffers
The holiday season is a great time to help out your favorite charities.  Many CAGW members make year-end contributions in the form of appreciated securities.  Because CAGW is a tax-exempt organization, you pay no capital gains taxes when you contribute stocks to us.  What’s more, if you have held your stock for 12 months or longer, you receive a charitable deduction for its full value.  And that reduces your taxes!
 
Making a stock contribution is easy.  Simply call your broker and tell him the name of the stock and the number of shares you want to contribute to CAGW.  To complete the transfer, ask your broker to notify Mark Fennel, CAGW Director of Membership Services, at 202-467-5300.  Your year-end contributions are greatly appreciated and help ensure that CAGW can start 2010 on a sound financial footing.

Taxpayer News Wire

September 16 – CAGW named seven senators September Porkers of the Month following their votes to continue sending tax dollars for housing and community development programs to the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN).  The seven senators are Roland Burris (D-Ill.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).  According to an analysis by the Office of House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), ACORN has received at least $53.6 million in taxpayer-funded federal grants since 1994, plus millions more from states and localities, as well as foundations.

September 24 – In conjunction with The Maine Heritage Policy Center, CAGW released the 2009 Maine Piglet Book:  The Book Augusta Doesn’t Want You to Read.  The report exposes $2 billion in wasteful spending, providing an essential management tool for Granite State legislators and taxpayers.  Please visit www.cagw.org to read the report.

September 29 – CAGW released an Issue Brief investigating the Joint Strike Fighter’s $7.2 billion alternate engine program.  Despite opposition from Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Congress has earmarked $771 million for the alternate engine since 2004 to keep the program funded.  The Issue Brief is available at www.cagw.org.   

October 19 – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) was named CAGW’s October Porker of the Month.  The four-term senator from Texas is loading up on pork as she prepares to leave the Senate to run for governor.  While claiming to be a fiscal conservative, Sen. Hutchison requested 149 pork-barrel projects worth $1.6 billion in authorization and appropriations bills for fiscal year 2010.

October 27 – CAGW raised objections to 23 applications for broadband stimulus grants totaling $550 million that have been submitted to the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA).  One applicant, the California Broadband Cooperative, is seeking $81 million to serve 400 housing units, equal to $202,500 per unit.

November 20 – Recovery Czar Edward DeSeve was named CAGW’s November Porker of the Month after revelations of fraudulent accounting surrounding the 640,000 jobs alleged to have been created or saved under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Analysis of the government’s data revealed some troubling results, such as jobs created or saved in non-existent congressional districts and 58,000 jobs created or saved by 4,000 stimulus recipients, even though they had not yet received any money.

December 1 – CCAGW urged the Senate to vote “yea” on Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) motion to commit H.R. 3590 to the Senate Committee on Finance with instructions to remove the drastic cuts made to Medicare.  H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would slash Medicare by $500 billion; however, these reductions merely help lawmakers offset the costs of healthcare reform to the detriment of the nation’s senior citizens.