What's Happening in Rein in Deficits

TCS RSS Feed RSS

Defense Savings Strengthen Our Economic Security

February 06, 2013 | Budget & Tax , National Security

Defense Savings Strengthen Our Economic Security February 6, 2013 Dear Member of Congress, On behalf of the undersigned organizations and... Read More

TCS Moderates Congressional Briefings on Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard

February 05, 2013 | Agriculture , Energy

TCS Moderates Congressional Briefings on Reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard             February 5, 2013 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis, 202-546-8500 ext... Read More

Big Oil Boasts High Profits; Subsidies Continue

February 01, 2013 | Energy

Big Oil Boasts High Profits; Subsidies Continue Oil and gas companies continue to boast substantial profits while reaping billions in taxpayer-backed subsidies. As of February 1st, four... Read More

It’s Official: 2012 Drought Cost Taxpayers a Record $14 Billion

January 16, 2013 | Agriculture

It’s Official: 2012 Drought Cost Taxpayers a Record $14 Billion This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed what taxpayers have feared for months. After tallying losses from last... Read More

House Science Subcommittee Debates Oil Shale Subsidies

December 12, 2012 | Budget & Tax , Energy , Natural Resources

The House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing November 30th to discuss the development... Read More

Fiscal Conservatives: Taxpayers Won’t Harvest Farm Bill Savings

December 07, 2012 | Agriculture

Fiscal Conservatives: Taxpayers Won’t Harvest Farm Bill Savings Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a joint letter today urging Congress to reject a five-year farm bill as part of a deficit reduction package.... Read More

Use Common Sense to Rappel the Fiscal Cliff

December 05, 2012 | Budget & Tax

Use Common Sense to Rappel the Fiscal Cliff Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a “Common Sense Proposal to Rappel the Fiscal Cliff” to the President and congressional... Read More

Don’t Toy With the Cliff: Support TCS Today

December 02, 2012 | Budget & Tax

Don’t Toy With the Cliff: Support TCS Today Dear Friends: Congress, the administration, and the punditry at large have been bemoaning the federal government’s fiscal situation.... Read More

Drought Fails to Dry Up Farm Profits

November 30, 2012 | Agriculture

Drought Fails to Dry Up Farm Profits Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that even after this year’s drought, farm profits are on pace to... Read More

Congress: Avoid Fiscal Cliff and Go Home

November 14, 2012 | Budget & Tax

Congress: Avoid Fiscal Cliff and Go Home Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter today to all members of the 112th Congress outlining what they should do regarding the fiscal cliff.... Read More

Remarks by TCS President Ryan Alexander on Fiscal Cliff

November 08, 2012 | Budget & Tax

Remarks by TCS President Ryan Alexander on Fiscal Cliff Taxpayers for Common Sense held a media conference call earlier today to discuss the outcomes of the election and what the Lame Duck... Read More

President Ms. Ryan Alexander Sliding Past Sequestration Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1, 2012 CONTACTS: Steve Ellis 202-546-8500 x126 or steve@taxpayer.net Taxpayers for Common Sense... Read More

Letter to the Speaker: Don’t Cut the House out of the Farm Bill Debate

July 31, 2012 | Agriculture

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined 13 other organizations representing a diversity of interests in calling on Speaker Boehner to not let taxpayers be subjected to a "bait and switch" on the Farm Bill. Recent comments from House Agriculture Committee leadership clearly outline a strategy to use supplemental drought assistance and a one year extension of the Farm Bill as a “Trojan Horse” to get to conference with the Senate on a five-year Farm Bill.... Read More

Fiscal Conservatives: Farm Bill Will Not Solve Drought

July 23, 2012 | Agriculture

Following the old adage "never let a crisis go to waste," special interests in Washington are trying to exploit the current drought... Read More

TCS Statement on Amendment to Freeze Pentagon Budget

July 19, 2012 | Budget & Tax , National Security

TCS Statement on Amendment to Freeze Pentagon Budget The following is a written statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the adoption of the Frank-Mulvaney... Read More

Ideologically diverse coalition sends letter to Congress: Stop the NAT GAS Act

Taxpayers for Common Sense Action joined an ideologically diverse coalition in a letter to the Senate urging them to oppose Amendment... Read More

Senate Defeats Attempt to Attach NAT GAS Act to Transportation Bill

March 12, 2012 | Energy

Today the Senate defeated an amendment offered by Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Burr (R-NC) that would have provided billions in lucrative... Read More

Letter to Congress: Vote NO: S. 1813 Support Taxpayer Positions on Amendments

Taxpayers for Common Sense Action sent a letter to members of the Senate urging them support taxpayer positions on amendments to the... Read More

TCS Action Letter to Congress: Budget Gimmicks Hit the Road

February 13, 2012 | Transportation & Infrastructure

Taxpayers for Common Sense Action sent a letter to members of Congress as they consider H.R. 7, The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs... Read More

Coalition Letter Urges Congress to Reject Linking Drilling Revenues to the Highway Trust Fund, Preserve User-Pays

February 13, 2012 | Transportation & Infrastructure

Taxpayers for Common Sense, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Reason Foundation, National Taxpayers Union, and Natural Resources Defense... Read More

Coalition Demands Deficit Plans be Public

December 05, 2011 | Budget & Tax

Taxpayers for Common Sense and a coalition of groups sent a letter to the President, Speaker Boehner, and Majority Leader Reid today... Read More

Super Failure: Time for Congress to Do Its Job

November 21, 2011 | Budget & Tax

For Immediate Release November 21, 2011 Contact: Steve Ellis 202-546-8500 x126 Super Failure: Time for Congress to Do Its... Read More

November 4, 5:43 PM—The Latest on the Deficit Cutting Super Committee

November 14, 2011 | Budget & Tax

November 4, 2011-5:43 PM This way madness lies. Because the vast majority of the Super Committee’s activities have occurred behind... Read More

TCS Letter In Support of S. 1775, the Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act

October 30, 2011 | Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense Action sent a letter to several senators regarding S. 1775, the Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act... Read More

TCS Statement on DOI’s Plans to Lease Public Lands for Solar Development

October 28, 2011 | Energy

Statement of Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense in response to Department of Interior release of the Supplement to... Read More

Coalition Letter to Support Transparency in Super Committee

September 19, 2011 |

A coalition of watchdog groups, along with Taxpayers for Common Sense, sent a letter to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the... Read More

TCS Letter to the ‘Super Committee’

September 08, 2011 | Budget & Tax

Yesterday, Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter to all 12 members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the "Super... Read More

TCS Statement and Analysis on Debt Ceiling Agreement

July 31, 2011 | Budget & Tax

A statement from TCS President Ms. Ryan Alexander is below.  Analysis on the debt ceiling legislation agreed to by leadership from both... Read More

TCS on the Debt Ceiling

July 28, 2011 | Budget & Tax

Taxpayers for Common Sense statement on the debt ceiling and deficit reduction bills.          ... Read More

TCS Testifies on Revenue Sharing from Offshore Drilling

July 26, 2011 | Energy

Ms. Ryan Alexander President Taxpayers for Common Sense Written Testimony submitted to the United States House of... Read More

Support Gang of Six Bi-Partisan Plan to Reduce Our Nation’s Deficit

July 20, 2011 | Budget & Tax

    Support “Gang of Six” Bi-Partisan Plan to Reduce Our Nation’s Deficit   July 20,... Read More

Senate Committee Passes Energy Financing Entity

July 13, 2011 | Energy

With little debate, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed by voice vote a bill to create the Clean Energy Deployment... Read More

Ethanol Update: Coalition Applauds Two Important Votes to End Taxpayer-Funded Ethanol Subsidies in t

June 23, 2011 |

WASHINGTON, DC – June 16, 2011 – A broad and diverse coalition that includes business associations, taxpayer advocates, hunger and... Read More

Coalition Letter Supporting Ending Wasteful $6 Billion Annual Ethanol Subsidy

June 12, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a broad and diverse coalition supporting Senators Coburn (R-OK), Feinstein (D-CA), and McCain (R-AZ) and their amendments this week which will end the $6 billion annual, taxpayer-funded subsidies for conventional ethanol which go to Big Oil when they blend ethanol with gasoline. ... Read More

TCS Releases Report on Largest Ethanol Subsidy

June 08, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy

Today Taxpayers for Common Sense released a comprehensive report on the largest subsidy to corn ethanol, the Volumetric Ethanol Excise... Read More

TCS Action Letter: Tax Reform Must Tackle Oil and Gas Subsidies

May 09, 2011 | Energy

TCS Action sent a letter to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) to urge crafting of a bill that will trim unnecessary wasteful oil and gas tax breaks. By eliminating wasteful and outdated tax breaks, Congress can bring valuable revenue to the Treasury and begin chipping away at the nation's trillion dollar deficit.... Read More

TCS Letter in Opposition to H.R. 1380, the NAT GAS Act

May 03, 2011 | Energy

TCS Letter in Opposition to H.R. 1380, the NAT GAS Act Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives calling for Congress to oppose H.R. 1380, the New Alternative Transportation to Give American Solutions or NAT GAS Act.... Read More

Letter Supporting Bipartisan Effort to Cut Billions in Ethanol Giveaway

May 03, 2011 | Agriculture , Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense joined a broad and diverse coalition applauding Senators Coburn (R-OK) and Feinstein (D-CA) for combining their efforts to end billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies for conventional ethanol by introducing the bipartisan “Ethanol Subsidy and Tariff Repeal Act.”... Read More

TCS Letter to House Speaker John Boehner Agreeing with his Recent Comments on Oil Subsidies

April 25, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, regarding his recent comments that oil companies "ought to be paying their fair share."... Read More

Budget Gimmicks in FY11 Defense Bill

April 14, 2011 | National Security

Washington is abuzz with talk of the deficit-reduction plan President Obama announced Wednesday, mostly along the lines of “wait, what... Read More

Taxpayer Letter to the Senate: End Ethanol Tax Credit

March 28, 2011 | Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter to senators today urging them to support efforts to immediately end spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a wasteful tax credit that was set to expire last year. Read our letter below and contact your senators to ask for their support on this common sense taxpayer-friendly amendment. ... Read More

Coalition Letter to Congress Calls for an End to Energy Subsidies

March 17, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense along with a coalition of nearly 30 groups sent a letter to Congress calling for an end to energy... Read More

Broad Coalition Supports Senators Efforts to End VEETC

March 11, 2011 | Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense alongside a broad and diverse coalition of groups sent a letter supporting the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax... Read More

TCS Testifies at the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

March 03, 2011 | Agriculture , Budget & Tax , Energy

On March 3, 2011 Taxpayers for Common Sense President Ryan Alexander testified at a House Committee on Oversight and Government reform... Read More

Ongoing Analysis of Debate Over FY11 Continuing Resolution

February 16, 2011 | Budget & Tax , Energy , National Security

The House of Representatives is debating a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government for the rest of fiscal year 2011 (through... Read More

Legislation Introduced to end Reverse Royalty for Hardrock Mining

January 31, 2011 | Energy , Natural Resources

Last week, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced legislation to eliminate an unnecessary giveaway for mining companies that cost... Read More

Letter to Congress: Where to Start Cutting to Trim the Deficit

Today Taxpayers for Common Sense delivered to leadership in both the House and Senate a report on how Congress can quickly cut nearly... Read More

TCS Action Letter Urges Congress to Oppose ANY Extension to the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit

December 10, 2010 | Energy

Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense Action sent a letter to Congress urging members to oppose ANY extension to the Volumetric Ethanol... Read More

TCS Letter to Deficit Commissioners: Support the Final Report

December 02, 2010 | Budget & Tax

Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter to the commissioners of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform urging... Read More

Deficit Commission Releases its Final Report—The Moment of Truth

December 01, 2010 | Budget & Tax , Earmarks & Appropriations

So the "The Moment of Truth" is here. We've been combing through the specifics of the aptly titled final report of the National... Read More

Diverse Coalition Calls for Congress to End the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC)

November 29, 2010 | Energy

Taxpayers for Common Sense, together with a diverse coalition of 58 groups, sent a letter to congressional leaders today urging them to... Read More

TCS Letter to Deficit Commissioners

November 15, 2010 | Budget & Tax

TCS applauds the Co-chairs for not leaving any stone unturned and acknowledging the difficult budgetary choices that must be made given... Read More

Keep it Clean

September 29, 2010 |

The key word here is simply.  Congress can pass and should pass what is referred to as a “clean” CR, where nothing changes from last... Read More

U.S. Deficit Double-Edged Sword for Defense Budget Cuts

June 15, 2010 | National Security

TCS National Security Analyst Laura Peterson published the following commentary as a guest writer on Budget Insight, the blog of the... Read More

New Report Urges Pentagon Role in Deficit Reduction

June 10, 2010 | National Security

Today, the Sustainable Defense Task Force held a press conference at the Capitol Visitors Center releasing a report identifying roughly $1 trillion in Pentagon budget savings over the next ten years. ... Read More

Interest Payments on Debt Skyrocket

February 05, 2008 | Budget & Tax

3:25 p.m. -- With the economy in the tank and rising federal debt, the costs of servicing the federal debt is skyrocketing. According to... Read More

TCS Commissioned Report—Billions Spent to Deter Marijuana Use, But Program Effectiveness Remains Unknown

June 28, 2005 | Budget & Tax

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance in the United States, and study after study shows that despite spending billions of... Read More

Weekly Wastebasket

Our weekly reality-check for federal spending. View All

February 15, 2013

Engineering Boondoggles

While Washington is wringing its hands about the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as... Read More