CAGW ISSUES SPENDING CUT ALERT ON THE ALTERNATE ENGINE PROGRAM

Urges Congress Not to Include it in any Spending Legislation

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) issued a spending cut alert for the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) platform, a program that is managed by the Department of Defense. Wasteful spending at the Department of Defense (DOD) has a long and notorious history, including the $436 hammer, the $640 toilet seat, and 15 pages of instructions on how to bake chocolate chip cookies. The latest nightmare for taxpayers is the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) platform. In the past eight years, the JSF program has become the largest acquisition program within the DOD, with a total cost estimate of $300 billion.

Since 2004, Congress has earmarked more than $1.2 billion for the alternate engine including a $465 million earmark in the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations Act. This was among the 35 anonymous earmarks worth $6 billion slipped into the legislation, which was highlighted in CAGW’s 2010 Congressional Pig Book. The House of Representatives has once again ignored the evidence, as well as a threatened presidential veto, by adding $485 million for the program in H.R. 5136, the FY 2011 Defense Authorization Act.

The fate of the alternate engine could depend on whether President Obama carries out his threat to veto any legislation that includes funding for the program. Supporters know that he is averse to shutting down the government by vetoing a continuing resolution; this bill is their best opportunity to keep the wasteful program going.

“The alternate engine should be grounded,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “Two presidents, two secretaries of defense, a phalanx of top military officials, and a majority of the Senate have all agreed that this program should be terminated. Until funding is cut from Congress’ pork-fueled alternate engine, the program will continue to be a burden on taxpayers and the military.”

The alternate engine has been among CAGW’s targets for spending cuts and are included in CAGW’s Prime Cuts database, a compendium of 763 waste-cutting recommendations that would save taxpayers $350 billion in the first year and $2.2 trillion over five years. The elimination of this program would save taxpayers approximately $500 million per year. “While Prime Cuts is not the only answer, it will help reduce the $1.3 trillion deficit, the $13.7 trillion national debt, and keep more money in the hands of individuals and small businesses that can more directly address the stubborn 9.6 percent jobless rate,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “Taxpayers now recognize that President Obama and his congressional allies will say anything to sound fiscally rational, but their actions tell a different story. The spendthrifts in Washington, D.C. should read and adopt every recommendation in the 2010 Prime Cuts,” Schatz concluded.

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