Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released the following letter to Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).
Dear Congressman Toomey:

      Along with the more than one million members and supporters of the Council of Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I applaud you for offering an alternative budget plan to reduce government spending, prioritize resources, and increase economic growth through long-overdue tax relief for American businesses and individual taxpayers.

Your budget resolution goes to the heart of why the federal budget is in the red: out of control spending.  Over the last seven years, non-defense discretionary spending has grown a whopping 66 percent.  That’s an average rate of 3 ½ times the rate of inflation, which far outpaces the income growth of American working families.  By freezing total discretionary spending for the first year, followed by controlled acceleration in growth over the next decade, this budget resolution would bring back fiscal discipline to the budget process.  The savings achieved through the 1 percent reduction in wasteful spending would free up resources for the immediate funding priorities facing the nation. There is more than enough wasteful spending in both mandatory and discretionary programs to easily reach this target. 

At the same time, your budget would grow the economy by providing meaningful, long-term tax relief, paying down the debt while bringing the federal budget into balance within four years.  This pro-growth approach includes all of President Bush’s 2003 Economic Growth and Jobs tax cut package, makes the 2001 tax cuts permanent and reduces the capital gains rate to 10 percent. 

      We encourage you to keep fighting on behalf of the American taxpayer and we look forward to working with you to cut the bloat out of the federal budget and bring efficiency and accountability back to our government institutions.  CCAGW intends to consider all votes on the RSC fiscal 2004 resolution in our 2003 Congressional Ratings. 

                                    Sincerely,

                                    Tom Schatz      

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