Throughout his career, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, has worked to bring Wisconsin's historic tradition of fiscal responsibility to Washington. Now, in the face of record deficits, Senator Feingold is unveiling a comprehensive plan to get our nation back on track: The Control Spending Now Act. This legislation includes critical reforms and new efforts to cut wasteful spending across the federal government. And over 10 years, the provisions in this bill would reduce the deficit by over one half trillion dollars.
TOUGH REFORMS: The current system in Washington makes it all too easy for members of Congress to slip funding for wasteful projects into must-pass bills, costing billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Feingold wants to make it harder to pass wasteful spending in the first place by instituting reforms that crack down on the status quo in Washington. Feingold's plan includes major proposals like earmark reform, a presidential line item veto, and a statutory pay-as-you-go law that would bring some much needed accountability to the federal spending process.
CUTTING WASTE: Feingold is also working to get the government's fiscal house in order by proposing dozens of cuts that eliminate wasteful or inefficient spending. The Control Spending Now Act goes after abuses of taxpayer dollars in every area of government – from a weapons system the Pentagon doesn't want to a U.S. radio broadcast to Cuba that virtually no one even gets.
A RECORD OF PROTECTING TAXPAYER DOLLARS: Feingold's new legislation builds on many years of working to cut waste and reform the budget process. In his first campaign for the U.S. Senate, in 1992, Feingold unveiled his 82-point plan to slash the deficit. Many of those reforms have been enacted, as have many other fiscally responsible initiatives Feingold has championed, such as his effort to create an inspector general to oversee U.S. taxpayer dollars in Iraq. These are all part of Feingold's record of working to prevent the abuse of taxpayer dollars and restore fiscal discipline in Congress.
Chapter 1: Reforming the Budget and Spending Process
Summary:
The most important part of controlling spending is changing the way Congress budgets and spends in the first place. That means putting systems in place that stop wasteful programs before they start. The Control Spending Now Act cracks down on congressional earmarks, reforms the budget process and requires spending cuts when Congress enacts tax or entitlement legislation that is not paid for.
Summary:
Government needs to tighten its belt and that should start in the Congress itself. Ever since Feingold came to the Senate, he has followed some simple rules to save taxpayer dollars. Each year, he returns a portion of the office funds he receives to the Treasury, and he does the same with any pay raises he receives during his six-year term in office. It's time for Congress to work harder to save taxpayer money across the board by tightening budgets, ending automatic annual pay raises for members of Congress, and ending outdated data entry practices.
Summary:
Giving government hand-outs to big corporations is no way to balance the books or get government budgeting back on track. But there are still far too many ways for big companies to get subsidies that dig us deeper into the deficit ditch. The Control Spending Now Act cuts a number of those subsidies. Feingold voted against the Wall Street bailout, and his proposal requires that any of the Wall Street bailout money that hasn’t already been obligated be returned to the Treasury and used to reduce the deficit.
Chapter 4: Reducing Taxpayer Subsidies for Big Agribusinesses
Summary:
Senator Feingold is a strong supporter of Wisconsin’s family farmers, and a strong opponent of wasteful subsidies for big agribusiness and wealthy landowners that do nothing to improve the safety net for the hardworking farmers across our state. The Control Spending Now Act cracks down on wasteful subsidies for wealthy individuals, direct payments to the largest farms even when prices are high and other wasteful spending of taxpayer money.
Chapter 5: Ending Taxpayer Subsidies for the Use of Public Resources and Government Services
Summary:
One of the most mind-boggling ways the government wastes money is by giving away publicly owned resources for free, or at drastically under their market value. For example, an obsolete 1872 law allows mining companies to take hardrock minerals from government land for free, without paying any royalties or fees at all. That's a giveaway of taxpayer dollars and causes environmental harm to federal lands to boot. The Control Spending Now Act ends this and a wide range of other government giveaways to help reduce the deficit.
Chapter 6: Targeting Wasteful or Unnecessary Government Spending
Summary:
There is a wide range of programs across the federal government – from the Defense Department to NASA to the IRS – that are needlessly wasting money and adding to the deficit. That includes a slush fund at the IRS, planes being built that the Defense Department didn't even ask for and a radio and TV signal we send to Cuba that virtually nobody gets. This legislation goes after those programs and more to stop pouring taxpayer dollars down the drain.
History: A Record of Deficit Reduction, a Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has worked for 17 years to bring Wisconsin's historic tradition of fiscal responsibility to Congress. Feingold, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, has been widely recognized for his efforts to cut wasteful spending, working with members of both parties to protect Americans' taxpayer dollars.
Feingold's long record of deficit reduction began even before he came to the U.S. Senate. In his 1992 campaign, he unveiled his 82-point plan to slash the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. Many of those reforms have been enacted, as have many other fiscally responsible initiatives Feingold has championed, such as reinstating pay as you go (PAYGO) budget rules, and creating an inspector general to oversee U.S. taxpayer dollars in Iraq. These efforts are all part of Feingold's record of working to prevent the abuse of taxpayer dollars and restore fiscal discipline in Congress.
