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'''Citizens Against Government Waste''' (CAGW) is a [[501(c)(3)]] [[non-profit]] organization in the [[United States]]. It functions as a [[think-tank]], 'government watchdog', and [[advocacy group]] for [[fiscally conservative]] causes. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of CAGW, organized as a section [[501(c)(4)]] organization, and therefore permitted to engage in direct [[Lobbying in the United States|lobbying]] activities. According to their web site, "CAGW is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and [[economic inefficiency|inefficiency]] in the federal government."
'''Citizens Against Government Waste''' (CAGW) is a [[501(c)(3)]] [[non-profit]] organization in the [[United States]]. It functions as a [[think-tank]], 'government watchdog', and [[advocacy group]] for [[fiscally conservative]] causes. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of CAGW, organized as a section [[501(c)(4)]] organization, and therefore permitted to engage in direct [[Lobbying in the United States|lobbying]] activities. According to their web site, "CAGW is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and [[economic inefficiency|inefficiency]] in the federal government."

Revision as of 21:48, 10 April 2013

Citizens Against Government Waste
AbbreviationCAGW
Formation1984
TypeAdvocacy group
Headquarters1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Location
  • Washington, D.C.
Region served
United States
President
Thomas A. Schatz
Websitehttp://www.cagw.org

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States. It functions as a think-tank, 'government watchdog', and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of CAGW, organized as a section 501(c)(4) organization, and therefore permitted to engage in direct lobbying activities. According to their web site, "CAGW is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government."

History

Located in Washington, DC, CAGW was founded in 1984 by industrialist J. Peter Grace and syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, former members of the Grace Commission or President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control.[1] CAGW's current President is Thomas A. Schatz. Schatz has been president since 1992.[2]

Publications

CAGW produces a number of publications critical of what it calls "pork-barrel" projects. The Congressional Pig Book Summary (Pig Book) is an annual list of such projects and their sponsors.

The 2008 Pig Book identified 10,610 projects in the 11 appropriations bills that constitute the discretionary portion of the federal budget for fiscal 2008, costing taxpayers $17.2 billion.[3] Related publications include Prime Cuts, a list of recommendations for eliminating waste in the federal government and Porker of the Month, a monthly press release.

Also, since 1989, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) has examined Congressional roll-call votes to determine which members of Congress are voting in what they view as the interest of taxpayers. CAGW makes public what legislators are engaging in "pork-barrel" spending based on 'key' votes for each congressional session.

Activity of CAGW

CAGW and CCAGW seek to influence public policy through public education, lobbying, and mobilization for email- and letter-writing campaigns. CAGW claims to have helped save taxpayers $944 billion through the implementation of Grace Commission findings and other recommendations.

CAGW was one of the critics of the 2001 $23.5 billion Air Force plan to lease and then buy 100 refueling tankers from Boeing Co. Congress squashed the plan after it was revealed that an Air Force official inflated the price in exchange for an executive job at Boeing.[4]

CAGW was a prominent critic of Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and his efforts to secure a record $2.3 billion federal loan for a railroad company that once employed him as a lobbyist. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) cited an “unacceptably high risk to taxpayers” in denying the loan to the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) in 2007.[5]

CAGW named Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) its June 2008 Porker of the Month for accepting a preferential mortgage deal from Countrywide Financial which stood to benefit from a mortgage bailout bill he was pushing through Congress.[6]

Controversy

"Chinese Professor" ad

See also: Sino-American relations and Sinophobia

In the United States elections, 2010, a significant number[7] of negative advertisements from both major political parties focused on candidates' alleged support for free trade with China. Some of the stock images that accompanied ominous voiceovers about China were actually of Chinatown, San Francisco.[8] Such ads were criticized for promoting anti-Chinese xenophobia.[8]

The CAGW launched an ad, now commonly referred to as "Chinese Professor", which portrays a 2030 conquest of the West by China (cf. Yellow Peril), using local Asian American extras to play Chinese, although the actors were not informed of the nature of the shoot.[9] Columnist Jeff Yang said that in the campaign there was a "blurry line between Chinese and Chinese-Americans".[8] Larry McCarthy, the producer of "Chinese Professor," defended his work by saying that "this ad is about America, it's not about China."[10] Other editorials commenting on the video have called the video not anti-Chinese.[7][10][11]

One of the extra actors who took part in the ad reported that he was lied to by the producers who told him they were filming a scene for Transformers 3.[12] The same actor said "I saw the commercial and it’s pretty intense and one thing I did not know that the commercial would do, is put this almost red-scare type of fear in the eyes of Americans (effectiveness wise, the political ad works, not saying I agree with the tactics)."[13] Chinese were baffled by the ad, especially by its exaggeration of Chinese economic power, given the fact that the average Chinese citizen still earns less than one-fifth of that is earned by an American citizen.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Remarks on Receiving the Final Report of the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control in the Federal Government". President Ronald Reagan Speech October 28, 1985. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  2. ^ "A Hole in the Government's Pocket". FrontPage Magazine. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  3. ^ "Pig book puts pet spending in spotlight". MSNBC. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  4. ^ "Right-Left Coalition Denounces Boeing Corporate Welfare Deal". CommonDreams.org. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  5. ^ "Sen. Thune avoids being named 'Porker of the Year'". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  6. ^ CAGW Names Sen. Dodd Porker of the Month
  7. ^ a b Chi, Frank (2010-11-08). "In campaign ads, China is fair game; Chinese-Americans are not". The Boston Globe.
  8. ^ a b c Lyden, Jacki (2010-10-27). "Critics Say Political Ads Hint Of Xenophobia". NPR. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  9. ^ Yang, Jeff (2010-10-27). "Politicians Play The China Card". Tell Me More. NPR. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  10. ^ a b Smith, Ben (2010-10-22). "Behind The Chinese Professor".
  11. ^ Fallows, James (2010-10-21). "The Phenomenal Chinese Professor Ad".
  12. ^ "The Year China-Bashing Went Mainstream", New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/11/the-year-that-china-bashing-went-mainstream.html
  13. ^ "The Year China-Bashing Went Mainstream", New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/11/the-year-that-china-bashing-went-mainstream.html
  14. ^ "The Year China-Bashing Went Mainstream", New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/11/the-year-that-china-bashing-went-mainstream.html
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