Citizens Against Government Waste America's #1 Taxpayer Watchdog

After much fanfare surrounding its introduction in January, the Congressional five-day workweek has been quietly retired for the rest of the legislative year.  The House will have Fridays off in October so representatives can spend more time in their districts – the week already begins late Monday afternoons – yet while the year is winding down, the workload is gearing up.  None of the 12 appropriations bills, which were due before the start of the fiscal year on October 1, have been completed as of publication.  The President has vowed to veto most of them for going over budget; so far the bills exceed the President’s request by $22 billion.

In the fall of 1998, the Internet Tax Freedom Act put a moratorium on discriminatory and multiple Internet taxes on electronic commerce and access taxes at the federal, state, and local levels.  With large bipartisan support, the ban was extended in 2001 and 2004.  It expires on November 1, 2007.  Congress is considering a four-year extension.

The I-35 Bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which resulted in the deaths of 13 people, dominated several news cycles and gave politicians the kind of somber photo ops they can rarely resist.  Some, including House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), called for an increase in the federal gas tax to pay for the long-standing unmet need for bridge repair.  Congress went back to business as usual, earmarking billions of tax dollars for frivolous projects in the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill.

“Members of Congress have reproductive organs the size of BBs,” so said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Colo.) in challenging his colleagues to enact real earmark reform.  Alas, Sen. Coburn was proven correct as the Senate voted 83-14 to approve S. 1, misnamed “the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act.”