Skeptical about politicians' promises.” Retain Sequestration Spending Caps

October 21, 2013

Alexandra Booze 202-467-5318

(Washington, DC)- Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) called for the members of the Budget Conference Committee to retain previously negotiated sequestration-level spending cuts after H. J. Res 59 was signed into law by President Obama.  The legislation will finance the government through January 15, 2014 and raise the debt limit through February 7.  The 29 member conference committee, led by House and Senate Budget Committee Chairmen Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), is directed by H.J. Res. 59 to hold talks and reach a long-term budget agreement by December 13.
They will have to negotiate a deal on the heels of the announcement on October 18 by the Treasury that the U.S. debt jumped by a record $328 billion, bringing the total U.S. debt to $17.075 trillion.  There are only eight weeks for the committee to agree to the first budget resolution in four years.
On October 7, CAGW began its “Shut Down the Waste” campaign by calling on Congress and President Obama to focus on eliminating wasteful government spending both during discussions over the continuing resolution and raising the debt ceiling and throughout any future budget discussions.  CAGW has since issued recommendations every day through both traditional and social media highlighting recommendations from “Prime Cuts 2013 and other sources.”  The campaign was created to ensure that taxpayers and elected officials do not ignore the hundreds of billions of dollars that can be saved by eliminating, waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.
“It is imperative that Congress and the Budget Conference Committee use this opportunity to take immediate action to shut down the waste, not shut down the government,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “The current agreement to the prevailing political impasse is only a short-term solution, maintaining sequestration levels should be the minimum amount of spending cuts in the final budget deal.”
Other ongoing efforts to combat wasteful government spending include the October 15 launch of CAGW’s three “shocking” videos which were produced to educate taxpayers, the media, and elected officials about the need to end profligate spending.  The national debt is estimated to increase to $17.5 trillion by the end of this year, eventually amounting to $25.9 trillion in 2022.  With the national debt currently at $17.057 trillion, every man, woman and child in the U.S. population of 316,870,868 owes $53,896.06 as his or her share of the debt, or $148,629 for each taxpayer.