During a contentious election season, it is rare to see two groups across the aisle agree about anything. From taxes to the environment, liberals and conservatives have reached little common ground in the last few months. However one issue has brought two groups from across the aisle together in agreement: the wasteful spending of the federal government.
A new report co-authored by the conservative group the National Taxpayers Union and the liberal group U.S. PIRG identifies areas within the federal budget that are wasteful and could be eliminated without effecting the necessary functions of government.
The U.S. PIRG and NTU study identifies 30 specific, actionable items to cut in federal spending, including:
- $62 billion in savings by eliminating wasteful subsidies to farmers and large corporations.
- $354 billion in savings from reforming inefficient contract and acquisition procedures.
- $77 billion in savings by improving execution of existing government programs as well as eliminating unneeded programs.
- $108 billion in savings from ending low-priority or unnecessary weapons systems, along with rightsizing other programs.
This left-right coalition to reduce wasteful spending is a welcome addition to political environment where both parties have become addicted to spending beyond the means of taxpayers. The new report, titled “Toward Common Ground: Bridging the Political Divide to Reduce Spending,” attempts to bridge the ideological divide between parties and create actionable ideas that can be used by legislators to cut wasteful spending. It is an idea well worth supporting.
The NTU-US PIRG study is available online at: http://www.ntu.org/assets/pdf/policy-papers/p10-10-28-ntu-pirg-spending-cut-paper.pdf
