Congress is close to releasing a massive spending bill to fund the federal government, and Heritage budget expert Romina Boccia says there is plenty of waste to cut. Speaking on Fox Business Network’s Cavuto, Boccia listed the top 10 examples of government waste for 2013.
Asked why she picked examples of the federal government’s wasteful spending habits—ranging from a $1 million bus stop to $98,670 outhouse—Boccia says the list shows that lawmakers need to cut, not increase, the federal budget.
“We had [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi say [in 2013] that the cupboard is bare. There are no more cuts to make,” explained Boccia, the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs at Heritage.
“And then Congress worked out this budget deal between [Representative Paul] Ryan and [Senator Patty Murray] to actually spend $45 billion more this year than allowed under the spending caps. Still, you have so much waste in the federal government, it is really outrageous and we need to be cutting the federal budget, not increasing it.”
Details of how that $1.012 trillion budget deal will be allocated are being closely guarded by appropriations committee members, but Boccia has already forecasted what taxpayers can expect from the omnibus spending bill. That includes:
- Few lawmakers reading the rushed spending bill
- Omnibus funding that busts through previous spending caps
- Funding that allows for corporate welfare programs, Obamacare, and other ineffective programs
- And a rush from Congress to bypass any serious spending debate.
Heritage experts plan to scour through the omnibus spending bill as soon as it is released, making expert analysis available on The Foundry and pointing out examples of spending paid for by the American taxpayer.
