In his final budget, President Clinton thumbs his nose to the needs of overburdened taxpayers 

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), America’s largest taxpayer watchdog organization, today blasted the administration’s fiscal 2001 budget proposal – the final budget of the Clinton presidency.  Under the Clinton plan, government spending would rise to an unprecedented $1.84 trillion.

“The President’s final budget proposal confirms this administration’s addiction to wasteful government programs,” remarked CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz.  “Mr. Clinton has had eight years to eliminate the worst offenders.  But instead of cutting these ridiculous programs, he has allowed them to grow and flourish.”

Despite previous promises of fiscal responsibility, the President’s budget includes substantial increases in federal discretionary spending.  If the Clinton Administration has its way, discretionary spending will rise to $614.4 billion in fiscal 2001 – a 4 percent hike over current year figures and nearly twice the rate of inflation.  Perhaps most surprising, the budget for the General Services Administration – the agency responsible for federal building construction – will increase a monumental 800 percent, from $100 million to $900 million.

Instead of taking a cleaver to waste, the administration’s proposal will actually expand some of the most ludicrous programs in the federal budget.  Among them is the Advanced Technology Program, a corporate welfare giveaway that the President wants to increase by 23 percent in fiscal 2001, to $175 million.  In addition, the White House wants to increase funding for the Economic Development Administration and the Community Development Block Grant program – two anti-poverty initiatives that have been perverted by Congress into mechanisms for bringing home the bacon.

“Obviously, the President intends to build his ‘Bridge to the twenty-first century’ with golden paving bricks,” remarked Schatz.  “In his final curtain call, President Clinton once again thumbs his nose to the needs of overburdened taxpayers.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.