Issues & Legislation |
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Fiscal and Government AccountabilityAs a former state auditor, Claire McCaskill has a proven history of targeting government waste and identifying mismanaged programs. As a United States Senator, Claire has applied these skills to reduce waste, fraud and abuse while also fighting for policies that will restore fiscal discipline with taxpayer dollars.Balancing the BudgetClaire believes the federal government needs to balance its budget just like American families do. The federal budget was balanced in 1999 and 2000, and for the first time in 30 years, we had a surplus to use to pay down the national debt. In fact, from 1998 to 2001, the U.S. Treasury paid down $453 billion of debt and by 2001, the nation faced a record projected 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion.That didn't last for long once the new Bush Administration and Congress passed over-sized tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest in 2001 and 2003. Those tax cuts left little to prepare the nation to fight terrorism and the war in Iraq. Today, the federal government is still $158 billion in the red, and we have a record $9 trillion debt. As a first step in the 110th Congress, Claire strongly supported passage of Pay-Go rules as part of the 2008 budget. Pay-Go means that if Congress wants new tax cuts or additional federal spending, it must find a way to pay for it. No more pretending that money grows on trees. Strengthening Government OversightClaire believes that one way to reduce government spending is to target government contractors. Government contracting is a trillion dollar industry but has been given little oversight from the Bush Administration.One way to improve oversight is to strengthen the overseers - the Inspectors General (IG) for federal departments and agencies. Claire and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a bill to give the IGs more independence and eliminate inappropriate influence from the agencies they oversee. The Inspector General Reform Act (S. 2324) has passed the senate and we're now working with the house negotiators on a final version to pass and send to the president for his signature. In addition, Claire supports legislation for tougher oversight of contracts, including eliminating the practice of no-bid contracting and banning the practice of giving contractors bonuses even when they don't finish the job or when they don't do it right or on time. Cutting Secret Government PorkThe congressional habit of adding pet projects to annual spending bills has grown out of control in the past decade. Many earmarks are now simply given to the entities with the best lobbyists, and not the ones with the best cause. Claire strongly believes that federal spending should be done on a competitive basis. Soon after her swearing in, Claire became an original cosponsor of S.1, the Ethics Reform Bill, which lifted the veil of secrecy on the annual earmarking process. Taxpayers can now see these earmarks on the Internet and which congressional members asked for them. Claire believes the additional public will help reduce this bad habit that now costs billions of taxpayer dollars to feed. There is more that can be done to make government spending more transparent, fair, and honest - and Claire will fight to make the system work better for Missourians.Curbing Special InterestsClaire McCaskill promised voters that she would change the way business is done in Washington, and the legislation she has introduced or cosponsored reflects that. One of the first bills she cosponsored in the Senate was the S.1,"Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007", which was signed into law in August 2007 aim to do that. This landmark law finally toughened the rules on lobbyist-paid gifts and travel, required members of Congress to publicly identify their earmarks in spending bills, and expanded disclosure requirements of Washington lobbyists. The law will go a long way in restoring the confidence of the American people in our Congress.To learn more about or to track the progress of legislation described above, please visit THOMAS.gov
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