CoPIRG Unveils “Gallery of Government Waste” to Showcase Easy Federal Budget Cuts

CoPIRG

DENVER— As the U.S. Senate begins negotiations to stave off a federal government shutdown, the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG) unveils a “Gallery of Government Waste” to highlight easy places to cut in the budget. These cuts are low-hanging fruit and will help bypass the partisan showdown in Washington.  

 “Rather than preparing for a partisan brawl in the Senate, why not start where we might find some agreement” said CoPIRG Associate Keelin Kelly. “That’s why we outreached to the National Taxpayer’s Union (NTU), a group we seldom agree with on public policy. If we can find common ground on cuts than that should be a good place for Republicans and Democrats to come together as well.”

The two groups identified cuts in their report “Toward Common Ground: Bridging the Political Divide to Reduce Spending” worth $600 billion by 2015—more than the House’s proposed cuts of $100 billion per year.

One easy cut the groups promoted is reducing the number of federal government buildings. 55,000 buildings owned by the federal government are not used or underutilized. Reducing this number by 25% over the next few years would save taxpayers $24 billion by 2015.

Another practical cut in the report is eliminating contracts that the Department of Homeland Security has already identified as wasteful, corrupt, or mismanaged. This would save taxpayers $34 billion by 2015.

 “Closing buildings that are not used, ending contracts that have been identified as wasteful by the Departments that hand them out, and ending subsidies for fast food companies to advertise their products abroad are much easier cuts compared to the more controversial cuts proposed by the House such as financial aid to college students and transportation and water infrastructure,” said Kelly.

The Colorado Public Interest Group, is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization.

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is America’s independent, non-partisan advocate for overburdened taxpayers.