Weekly Wastebasket

Congress Enacts Fiscally Calamitous Reconciliation Bill

Budget gimmicks, special interest handouts, and reckless deficit spending put the nation on a increasingly dangerous fiscal path.

Jul 3, 2025|

Statement

TCS on the Final Passage of Deficit-fueling FY25 Reconciliation Bill

Jul 3, 2025|

Letter

Joint Letter: Oppose Costly Subsidies for Carbon Capture and Storage in Reconciliation Bill

Jul 2, 2025|

Statement

TCS Statement on the Senate Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Jul 1, 2025|

Podcast

BWAF Podcast — Ep. 92: Feeding the World Without Frying the Planet with Michael Grunwald

Jun 23, 2025|

Rolling Analysis

The President’s FY2026 Budget

May 23, 2025|

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Taxpayers for Common Sense

Protecting taxpayers from government waste since 1995.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The budget process established in 1974 and reinforced by rules and precedents since then was intended to allow a simple majority to pass a budget as long as the contents of a budget measure were limited to budget-related spending and tax provisions…Playing partisan games with the budget process to set aside the 10-year budget period or use it for nonbudget purposes is contrary to the plain language of the Budget Act and the Byrd rules adopted by the Senate…It is a precedent that will get repeated over and over again.”

— Steve Smith, professor of politics at Arizona State University, on the use of gimmicks in budget reconciliation and bypassing the filibuster.

Agriculture

Agriculture

Washington wastes billions of taxpayer dollars annually on inefficient and outdated agriculture policies that do not address the realities of 21st-century agriculture, modern economies, or our nation’s current financial challenges.

Budget & Tax

Budget & Tax

Budget, tax, and spending decisions are about more than numbers, they are reflections of our priorities.

Disaster

Disaster

Taxpayers for Common Sense advocates for smarter use of taxpayer dollars by promoting pre-disaster investments, reforming programs like the National Flood Insurance Program, and scrutinizing federal emergency management practices.

Energy & Natural Resources

Energy & Natural Resources

We work to bring transparency to federal land and asset management, and to push Congress and Administrations to establish rents, royalties, and fees for private development of public land so taxpayers receive a fair return.

National Security

National Security

We monitor presidential, agency, and congressional spending requests, looking for duplications, over budget and unaffordable weapons systems, and projects driven by parochial or industry concerns rather than by sound security strategy.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Transportation & Infrastructure

Taxpayers for Common Sense opposes projects where the national benefit doesn’t outweigh the cost and advocates for a fix-it-first approach. We work to shift more of the financial costs and risks off federal taxpayers and onto the actual project beneficiaries themselves.