Citizens Against Government Waste America's #1 Taxpayer Watchdog

By Deborah Collier

WasteWatcher, March 2017

Information technology (IT) has consistently been a top priority for Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) since it was founded in 1984 following the release of the Grace Commission report.  The commission found that the federal government’s computer systems were outdated and incompatible, and much more needed to be done to upgrade and improve the efficiency of federal IT.

Today certainly was a disappointing day for congressional Republicans. Since March 23, 2010, seven years ago yesterday, Republicans have wanted to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. But, House Republican leadership was unable to satisfy enough members in their caucus to vote for their repeal and replacement bill, H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act.

The House Republicans have introduced a bill that will begin the process to repeal and replace Obamacare, entitled the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA). Obamacare is collapsing and Congress must act to stabilize and prevent further turmoil in the individual and small group health insurance market.

On March 7, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced that if the debt ceiling was not raised or extended before March 16, the Treasury will be unable to borrow funds for standard operating procedures.  In order to avoid breaching the debt ceiling, the Treasury will be forced to take extraordinary measures so that it is able to continue borrowing, but this will only last for a short period.  Another debt ceiling fight in Congress is inevitable, but most likely not un