Citizens Against Government Waste has previously covered the idea of creating a sixth military branch. The argument in favor of a Space Force is almost entirely without merit. It will increase bureaucracy, add to overhead costs, and complicate existing command structures, all without providing additional capabilities. For these very reasons, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was […]
CCAGW Urges Support for the Balanced Budget Amendment
April 11, 2018 U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Representative, You will soon vote on H. J. Res. 2, an amendment to the Constitution requiring that the federal budget be balanced. On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge […]
Rescission and the Trump Administration
Rescission is an abstruse presidential tool passed amid the Nixon administration under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Using rescission, a president can select any appropriated federal program for reduction or elimination by telling Congress what he or she intends to cut. The Congress then has 45 days to accept the decision […]
CBO Projects Strong Economic Growth in 2018 and 2019
Taxes, Budget, Appropriations
Are Republicans Serious About a Balanced Budget Amendment?
In 2018, Republicans have done little to separate themselves from Democrats when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars. On February 9, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 eviscerated the last semblance of fiscal responsibility in Washington, the 2011 Budget Control Act, by allowing spending caps to increase by $300 billion over the next two years. […]
New House Bill to Permanently Ban Earmarks
The Earmark Elimination Act—H.R. 5369—would prohibit the House from considering any legislation containing earmarks, and it would strip any earmarks found in a bill being considered by the House before it could proceed.
Federal IT Procurement Gone Awry
The concept that federal information technology (IT) procurement should be technology and vendor neutral is among the best practices for federal government agencies. However, when a large federal agency issues an exceptionally large cloud contract to a predetermined vendor for a specific technology solution without competitive bidding, such a contract is neither technology nor vendor […]
Myths and Realities: Earmarks
Reality: Earmarks are not the answer to mitigating the extreme partisanship that exists in Washington and are have nothing to do with getting things done.
Connecticut and Pennsylvania Pass Budgets
As we finish our Halloween candy and start preparing for Thanksgiving, each of the fifty states has now passed its required budget. As forty-nine of the fifty states require a balanced budget, which means the politicians can’t always resort to gimmicks and kick the can down the road like they do in Washington, D.C., the […]
Connecticut Legislature Passes a Bipartisan Budget Plan
Faced with a budget deficit of $3.5 billion over the next two years, and three months overdue on a budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, Connecticut lawmakers face a difficult situation and must make tough choices. In 2011 and 2015, the legislature tried to solve the state’s fiscal woes by passing big tax increases. […]