Dear Senator:

Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support cloture on Sen. Judd Gregg’s (R-NH) amendment, “A Second Look at Wasteful Spending.” Votes on this amendment may be included in our end of the year scorecard.

Over the last decade the number of legislative earmarks has exploded. Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) has found that the number earmarks in appropriations bills increased six-fold from 1998 to 2006. TCS found more than 6,300 earmarks in last year’s transportation bill alone. The corporate tax bill (FSC/ETI), which was supposed to fix a $5 billion trade-distorting export subsidy, ended up with special interest tax provisions and cost more than $140 billion. Congress has repeatedly defeated amendments targeting individual earmarks, including a Senate amendment targeting the notorious “Bridge to Nowhere.” Clearly, the time for enhanced recission authority as envisioned by the Gregg amendment has arrived.

The Gregg amendment will enable the President to shine a spotlight on specific spending and tax provisions and, in essence, ask Congress if they really want to fund them. The President would identify specific discretionary spending, direct spending, or special interest tax break provisions in legislation, package them together in a recission request and send it to Congress for a timely up or down vote. If a simple majority in either chamber rejects the President’s proposal, the recission does not take effect.

This proposal will not solve the nation’s deficit woes alone, but it will add an important tool to the country’s fiscal tool belt and help restore some sorely needed transparency and accountability to the legislative process.

Again, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action urges you to support the Gregg amendment, “A Second Look at Wasteful Spending.” If you would like to receive more information or discuss this further, please contact me at 202-546-8500 ext.126, or steve@taxpayer.net.

Sincerely,

Steve Ellis
Vice President of Programs