CAGW expresses continued opposition to Obamacare and its wasteful spending

Today, on the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) expressed its continued opposition to the legislation and the U.S. government's wasteful spending.

"President Obama has pledged to tackle the deficit and restore the budget to a sustainable path," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. "However, his two most prominent achievements since taking office - Obamacare and the Recovery Act - dramatically raise the present and future burden for taxpayers. CEOs and business owners at Starbucks, White Castle, IHOP, and the National Council of Chain Restaurants, have reneged on their previous support for Obamacare and stated that it will reduce employment and profits. As the nation shakes off a recession, the "cure" of Obamacare is worse than the disease.

"Taxpayers now fully appreciate the fiscal ruse that has been perpetrated. President Obama and his allies in Congress continue to mindlessly cheerlead for a bill that does not control costs or improve healthcare outcomes. To date, 1,040 organizations have received waivers exempting 2.5 million individuals from Obamacare's pernicious effects. Clearly, these groups - many of which lobbied for Obamacare - do not view the bill as an expansion of choice or affordability in health care.

"State governments, nearly all of which carry a substantial deficit, have been dealt a crushing blow by Obamacare. On March 1, 2011, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee jointly released a report detailing harsh truths about the healthcare bill's role in intensifying an already untenable fiscal situation. According to the report, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that new state spending on Medicaid will be '$20 billion between 2017 and 2019,' and an independent report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured found that new state spending would be even higher at $43.2 billion through 2019."

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the plan all along was to spend money like crazy, then hope for the best. Unfortunately, as the private sector and state governments have faced hard choices and had to prioritize expenditures, the federal government has proceeded with business as usual," Schatz continued.

On Monday, March 21, CAGW re-released its critically-acclaimed "Chinese Professor" ad depicting one possible future outcome of continued fiscal irresponsibility. "The ad presents a scenario that should be considered a real possibility," added Schatz. "We have time to alter our destiny, but we risk insolvency if we continue on our current path. The repeal of Obamacare is one of the most important first steps in providing access to prosperity for future generations."

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government. The Spending Cut of the Week calls attention to a federal program that is wasteful or duplicative.