Most government reports don’t generate an awful lot of interest from those outside the Beltway. But one recent report by congressional auditors gives the taxpaying public an opportunity to gauge how lawmakers digest budget-making.
The audit by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows a smaller-than-projected gap between federal spending and tax revenues for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
The big spenders will view this as a glass half-empty. Although economic gains and fatter corporate tax receipts shaved $112 billion from its deficit forecast in March, the red ink still adds up to a $260 billion deficit. So, they argue, Americans are under-taxed.
From my vantage point, I see the glass half-full. The 2001-2003 bipartisan tax relief laws have helped generate substantial revenue gains to curb the annual deficit.
But the critics are quick to downplay this good news and spread doom and gloom. They like to say tax relief guts the federal government’s revenue base and leads to rising deficits. The report proves otherwise. Spending is the problem, not tax relief.
The landmark tax relief laws helped fuel Americans economic engine. What’s more, the CBO report projects federal revenues would sustain an historic average of 18.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product through 2010.
Whether it’s argued the glass is half-full or half-empty, it’s little wonder taxpayers suffer indigestion.
But there’s one certainty that neither side can stomach. And that’s tax dollars lost to waste, fraud and abuse.
Recently, excessive spending by executives of the Legal Services Corporation, which provides legal assistance to poor Americans, was exposed to the light of day. Lavish expense accounts, foreign travel and extravagant offices in
Washington ’s high-rent district in Georgetown reveals a shameful temptation to skim the cream from Uncle Sam’s cash cow.
Once again, unscrupulous spending comes at the expense of taxpayers.
The LSC’s corporate headquarters illustrates a misguided mindset: greed before need.
Sadly, this unprincipled mindset reaches far and wide across the federal government. The questionable spending choices made by board members at the Legal Services Corporation mirrors a pattern of waste, abuse and outright fraud I’ve hunted down in my efforts to protect taxpayers and hold wrongdoers to account.
Just consider government-issued credit cards. I have helped expose abusive spending by Pentagon employees who charged outlandish items paid for by American taxpayers. I worked to rein in the problem by making changes to the law to beef up accountability standards and curb such reckless spending.
During congressional debate on federal relief for hurricane-ravaged areas of America’s Gulf Coast, I demanded fiscal accountability. When payment limits were going to skyrocket to $250,000 for government-issued credit cards, I was able to attach reasonable strings to keep the credit limit to $15,000.
With a $2.7 trillion federal budget, some people must feel their little slice of the pie doesn’t amount to much. That’s how dieters go wrong. Sneaking bites here and there soon adds up to a bigger problem. Liposuction won’t cure the problem if behavioral changes don’t follow.
The bilking includes those who contract with the federal government. Millions of tax dollars are now down the drain due to a bungled computer system upgrade for which the IRS shelled out nearly $21 million. The shelved software package was supposed to target the $200 to $300 million lost to fraudulent tax refunds.
Over at the Department of Energy, a worker compensation program wasted $26 million on improper payments to contractors hired to screen claims. While the contractors lined their pockets with millions, just one Cold War worker received compensation for illness developed by exposure to radiation and other toxic material.
Whether nipping at the heels of big spenders in Congress or tracking down those tax dollars once appropriated by lawmakers, this congressional watchdog will continue to hound wasteful spending of hard-earned tax dollars.
With regards to financing the federal budget, I kicked-off this summer the first in a series of congressional hearings I will convene as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to consider fundamental tax reform.
Hammering out a consensus among those of us who see the glass half-empty or half-full won’t be easy, but the goal is an improved tax system that promotes fairness, puts a premium on simplification and encourages productivity, savings and investment.