House Leadership Effort to Cut Spending
Is a Start -- Much More Must Be Done

ALEXANDRIA, VA— The American Conservative Union, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots lobbying organization today joined with the Heritage Foundation, the Club for Growth and the Family Research Council in calling on Congress and the Bush Administration to take decisive action to rein in federal spending.

“Conservatives applauded the spending reduction suggestions recently put forth by the House Republican Study Committee in its ‘Operation Off-Set’ and were encouraged by the initial elements of the ‘Four Point Plan’ to reduce spending proposed by Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader Blunt,” said ACU Chairman David Keene. “However, conservatives are seriously concerned that the actual spending reductions that ultimately come from the House and Senate over the next few weeks will be woefully inadequate.”

On the revenue side of the ledger, The Congressional Budget Office estimates that federal receipts in fiscal year 2006, 2007 and 2008 will be $2.280 trillion, $2.396 trillion and $2.526 trillion respectively. Thus total receipts for the three year period are estimated to be $7.202 trillion, compared to estimated spending of $8.176 trillion -- resulting in a cumulative addition to the federal debt of $974 billion.

“The Congressional Budget Office has estimated federal receipts will total $2.28 trillion in FY 2006. And this is not enough taxpayer money to run the government without incurring a deficit?” Keene asked.

Even before the passage of tens of billions of dollars to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Congressional Budget Office estimated annual deficits in FY 2006, FY 2007 and FY 2008 of $315 billion, $325 billion and $334 billion respectively. These deficits will add another $974 billion to the federal debt in just three years.

“When one considers that the federal debt already stands at $7.99 trillion, efforts to reduce the deficit by a few billion dollars over the next five years just aren’t enough,” Keene said. “Based on actual performance and the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, the federal debt is projected to grow by $3.22 trillion over the next three years to an unconscionable $8.9 trillion— the largest increase in debt during any eight year period in our nation’s history.”

The astonishing growth of the federal debt is in large part due to massive increases in entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The Heritage Foundation estimates that the Medicare prescription drug entitlement program, which the Bush administration narrowly passed through Congress in late 2003, will require more than $2.7 trillion in new tax revenues over the next ten-year period. This is the same ten-year program which President Bush, in his January 2003 State of the Union address, promised a price tag of only $400 billion.

Discretionary expenditures have also increased at alarming rates in recent years. According to a study by the CATO Institute, discretionary spending increased by 48.4% during Bush’s first term, more than double that of the 21.6% increase during the entire Clinton administration and embarrassingly higher than the 48.3% increase resulting from Lyndon Johnson’s entire discretionary spending spree.

In spite of these historic spending increases and amidst growing public concern over the national debt, in August of this year, President Bush signed the Transportation Equity Act, a piece of legislation that will cost the American taxpayer more than $286 billion dollars, up $30 billion from the administration’s original cost projections, making it the most expensive public works bill on record.

“As a result of such fiscal irresponsibility, the federal debt is quickly approaching the current debt limit of $8.184 trillion, which was increased by $800 billion less than one year ago,” Keene noted.

“We believe it is time to take a critical look at the long-term implications of congressional spending, particularly in terms of the debt we will be passing on to future generations,” said Keene. “It is time to educate the American people on the dangers of an ever-increasing federal debt and to encourage them to hold elected officials accountable.”

“No appropriation bill or program -- either discretionary or mandatory – should be ‘off-the-table’ when it comes to finding ways to cut spending,” Keene concluded.

The American Conservative Union is the nation's oldest conservative lobbying organization. ACU's purpose is to effectively communicate and advance the goals and principles of conservatism through one multi-issue, umbrella organization. The Statement of Principles makes clear ACU's support of capitalism, belief in the doctrine of original intent of the framers of the Constitution, confidence in traditional moral values, and commitment to a strong national defense.

For more information to schedule an interview, please call (703) 836-8602 or go to www.conservative.org.

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