(Washington, D.C.) – The nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today urged lawmakers in the Senate to oppose the fundamentally flawed stimulus bill.  President Obama came into office promising an unprecedented initiative to jump start the flagging economy by providing taxpayer-funded economic stimulus that would be timely, targeted, temporary, and transformative.  The President also forcefully promised that the final bill would contain ideas from both parties and would be accountable and transparent to taxpayers from its inception all the way down to the granular spending level.  Instead, House and Senate leaders have orchestrated an hysteria-driven hyper-partisan spending circus whose real goal has become permanent growth in federal government spending and debt liabilities that will rob future generations of income and prosperity.

“President Obama’s promise of a transformative stimulus package is certainly coming true,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz.  “This $900 billion will permanently increase the size of government and exacerbate the nation’s already unparalleled debt burden.  Members of Congress have used this ‘Mother of All Emergency Spending Bills’ to lard on tens of billions of dollars for pet programs, many of which have dubious merit even in the normal appropriations process.”

Some members have given up the charade that the stimulus will be free of waste and boondoggles.  In response to a question on National Public Radio this morning about the lack of direction from Congress in the bill, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) said, “So what?...we simply made a decision, which took about three seconds, not to have earmarks in the bill.  …that’s the least important question facing us on putting together this package.”  He then admitted that “stupid decisions will be made” when the money is spent, but that would not be Congress’s fault.

The Congressional Budget Office released an analysis on Wednesday that concluded the bill will result in so much government debt that it will crowd out private investment and actually lead to a smaller gross domestic product within the next 10 years.

“Chairman Obey’s comments are indicative of Washington’s attitude toward the taxpayers’ money:  just give us all you have, plus the money we are borrowing from your children and grandchildren, and even if we waste it or it worsens the economy, we don’t care.  This arrogant, outrageous and cavalier approach to spending is exactly why the stimulus becomes less popular the more taxpayers understand that it just won’t work,” concluded Schatz.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.