Waste cutters get re-elected

(Washington, D.C.) – Tom Schatz, president of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), today congratulated its endorsees who won 100 percent re-election to the U.S. House and Senate. 

“Tuesday’s election results just go to show that opposing government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement is a recipe for success in today’s politics,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Our intent in endorsing candidates is to encourage politicians to be fiscally responsible when they take office in Washington.  For too long, Congress has been wasting hundreds of billions of tax dollars, and hard-working Americans deserve to have more elected officials who stand for pro-growth, pro-taxpayer reforms of government spending, the tax code, and Social Security.  It is time to realize that market-based solutions, cutting waste, and encouraging individual freedom and responsibility is neither Left nor Right but common sense, and therefore is the future of American politics.”

CCAGW endorsed candidates for the 2002 election cycle for the United States Congress based on the following criteria:

1.  CCAGW’s ratings for the first session of the 107^th Congress.

2.  A representative or senator must have had a rating of 90 percent or greater and have voted on at least 75 percent of the total number of votes rated in the two chambers of Congress.  That equals 20 votes in the U.S. House of Representatives and 15 votes in the U.S. Senate.

Based on these standards, CCAGW endorsed the following House members: Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.); Rep. John Shadegg (Ariz.); Rep. J.D. Hayworth (Ariz.); Rep. Chris Cox (Calif.); Rep. Ed Royce (Calif.); Rep. Thomas Tancredo (Colo.); Rep. Ric Keller (Fla.); Rep. John Linder (Ga.); Rep. Phil Crane (Ill.); Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.); Rep. Steve Chabot (Ohio); Rep. Ernest Istook (Okla.); Rep. Pat Toomey (Pa.); Rep. Jim DeMint (S.C.); Rep. John Culberson (Texas); Rep. Tom Delay (Texas); Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.); Rep. Mark Green

(Wisc.).

CCAGW also endorsed the following member of the Senate:  Sen. Wayne Allard (Colo.).

“Congratulations to these winners,” Schatz concluded.  “It’s time to get to work cutting bloat and bringing efficiency and accountability to government institutions.  Representatives and senators now know the benefits of voting to eliminate wasteful spending, and hopefully more will reach the 90 percent threshold required for CCAGW’s endorsement in 2004.”

CCAGW's first-ever endorsements were made pursuant to federal election law, which permits organizations like CCAGW to publicly announce their endorsement of federal candidates and the reasons therefore.  The public announcement must be made solely through press releases or press conferences to the same media list that the organization also contacts when issuing non-political press releases or holding press conferences for other purposes, which is what CCAGW did in this instance.

CCAGW is a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.