NTUF Accuses Congress Of Reckless Spending

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

08 November 2007

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation's (NTUF) latest BillTally report has accused the US Congress of being reckless when it comes to spending tax revenue.

Demian Brady, NTUF Senior Policy Analyst and BillTally Director, argued this week that: "It is often said that money does not grow on trees, but based on Congress' overall fiscal work product, many taxpayers would be led to believe that this adage never reached Capitol Hill."

The study suggested that sometimes, a "do-nothing" Congress costs less, arguing that if the House passed all of the bills introduced during the first seven months of the 110th Congress, spending would increase by $1.5 trillion (excluding overlaps), or $42,840.50 per household. Senate bill sums would soar to $958 billion, or $26,239.54 per household.

The report additionally suggested that the Democratic majority isn't living up to its promise of "fiscal discipline," as spending agendas for the typical Senate Democrats were higher than those of their Republican counterparts.

The report went on to propose that:

"Spending legislation still overwhelms savings bills. The ratio of spending-increase bills to spending-decrease bills has declined from previous highs, but budget boosts still dominate Members' fiscal agendas. For every House bill that would reduce spending, there were 20 proposals to increase it. In the Senate, there were nearly 33 spending increases for every reduction."

Since 1991, BillTally has computed a 'net annual agenda cost' for each Member of Congress based on individual sponsorships of legislation - bills over which authors have complete control.

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