Message From Eric Cantor and You Cut

The new House Republican majority was elected with orders to stop Washington from spending money it doesn't have, and we listened. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake for Washington to continue ducking the toughest choices.

This spring, the House passed a budget that would cut spending by trillions of dollars and encourage private-sector job creation - without raising taxes. Among its key components are tax reforms that close unfair tax loopholes, while lowering the tax rates for everyone.

Unfortunately, the Democrats who still control the Senate and the White House rejected both our budget and a House-passed "Cut, Cap, and Balance" plan that would save trillions.

The Budget Control Act, which has now been signed into law, represents a step toward fiscal sanity in Washington, but only a step. It includes roughly a trillion dollars in up front deficit reduction including real caps to restrain future spending, and no new tax increases.

Bottom line, Washington can't keep spending money it does not have. By participating in the YouCut program over the past year and a half, you were among the first Americans to take action in this cause. Together, we have made a lot of progress, but much more remains to be done.

In the weeks and months ahead, be sure to stay tuned, as there will be several unique opportunities for you to participate in the legislative process. Working together, we will change Washington's culture of spending into a culture of savings.

Regards,

Rep. Eric Cantor
Majority Leader

Vote on You Cut


http://www.majorityleader.gov/YouCut/

Eliminate Grants to Worsted Wool Manufacturers
Potential savings: at least $20 million over 10 years
Manufacturers who weave worsted wool products in the United States that were doing business during the years 1999-2001 obtained eligibility to receive a portion of $5 million in annual grant funding under the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. The program was initially intended to be a temporary measure to assist manufacturers in adjusting to changes in U.S. trade laws which subjected them to increased foreign competition, with funds terminating in 2007. However, like many “temporary” government programs, it has been repeatedly extended. It currently is slated to expire in 2014. The initial intent of helping companies “adjust” to changes in trade law that are now more than a decade old has been fulfilled, and even the Obama administration has recommended terminating this program. Eligible manufacturers have already received $25 million in subsidies over the past 5 years to invest in whatever productivity improvements were necessary to counter increased foreign competition.


Eliminate the Science To Achieve Results Program
Potential Savings: up to $650 million over 10 years
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Science to Achieve Results program [STAR] funds scientific and engineering research grants to researchers and academic nonprofit institutions. The $60 million annual program also provides graduate fellowships in environmental sciences in the form of $37,000 yearly for living expenses, research and tuition assistance to masters and doctoral students. Subject matters of the research focus on policy priorities of the EPA, including technologies whose commercial application would be of limited appeal without imposing federal regulations like “cap and trade” systems restricting carbon emissions from stationary sources such as electrical power plants. Development of potentially uneconomic technologies helps the agency implement a heavy-handed regulatory agenda. Moreover, prior assessments of the program by the Office of Management and Budget [OMB] have concluded that some of the funded research is duplicative of research carried out by other federal agencies.

End Federal Funding for Municipal Bike-sharing Programs
The Federal government distributed more than $53 billion in funding for highways and transit projects in FY 2011 from the federal highway and transit trust funds. Federal excise taxes on gasoline sales are supposed to support these programs, however spending has significantly exceeded gas tax revenues in recent years. One reason for the excess has been federal spending on projects that don’t involve highways or transit systems at all, including federally funded bike sharing programs. Bike sharing programs were part of the more than $1 billion the federal government spent on programs to promote biking and walking in 2010. Federal bike and walking programs received hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars in addition to an annually recurring funding base that now exceeds $600 million. Bike sharing programs involve installation of bike storage facilities throughout a metropolitan area, together with the purchase of publicly-owned bicycles that riders can use for free or a nominal fee as a method of transportation. Federally-funded bike sharing programs are currently operating in cities such as Washington DC, New York City, and Minneapolis.

You Cut! - May 22, 2011 Version

Here we are again Boys and Girls,...go to You Cut and add your voice with your choice on what ridiculous Government spending we can do without. I voted to terminate U.S. Contributions to the U.N. Population Fund. The United Nations is one of the most corrupt organizations in the World and serves as a conduit for wasting American taxpayers money.

Terminate the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation
Saves $60 million
Under this program, American Ambassadors can request funding for grants to preserve the cultural heritage of their host countries, such as restoration of historic buildings, documentation of music or vanishing craft techniques or languages, and conservation of museum collections. The program provided $6 million in grants during 2010, including $575,000 to preserve an 18th Century Mongolian monastery, $30,466 to document traditional Pygmy music in the Congo, $47,000 to preserve carpet weaving traditions in Kazakhstan, and $39,000 to restore 19th Century furniture at the Anton Chekhov House Museum in Ukraine. Termination of the program would save approximately $60 million over the next ten years.


Terminate U.S. Contributions to the Asian Development Fund
Saves $356 million
The Asian Development Fund provides concessional “soft loan” funds at the Asian Development Bank, an international multilateral financial institution which provides loans to governments in the Asian-Pacific region. The Fund supports lending to countries in the region that are least credit-worthy due to low per-capita incomes, limited debt-repayment capacity, and limited access to financial markets. Loans are used to promote economic growth and fund anti-poverty efforts in the borrowing countries. Pakistan borrows about $1.5 billion annually from the fund for projects such as development of its transportation systems and providing urban services. The U.S. Government made a four-year commitment to the Fund of $461 million, of which only one installment of $105 million has been paid so far. Terminating further U.S. contributions to the Fund will save $356 million over 10 years.


Terminate U.S. Contributions to the United Nations Population Fund
Saves $400 million
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan withheld all U.S. contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) after determining that UNFPA participated in the support and co-management of China’s population control program. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. withheld funds for the UNFPA from America’s annual contributions to the United Nations due to UNFPA’s complicity in China’s one-child policy enforced through coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization, but the Obama administration and the 111th Congress resumed contributions to UNFPA. HR 1 sought to terminate UNFPA funding, which stood at $55 million in FY 2010. UNFPA funding was cut by $15 million, to $40 million in the final agreement over FY 2011 spending. The President’s 2012 Budget requests $47 million for the program.

You Cut - April 7th, 2011

Last week's winning YouCut item, championed by Rep. Allen West, reduces the printing budget for the Department of Defense by ten percent. As promised, this week House Republicans brought this proposal to the House floor for a vote, where it passed overwhelmingly.

Look at this weeks You Cut proposals and go to the following site to vote:
http://www.majorityleader.gov/YouCut/




Repeal the $17 Billion "Prevention and Public Health Fund" Created in the 2010 Health Care Law
Saves $17 Billion
Under the health care law signed by President Obama, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is granted the authority to spend funds in a new “Prevention and Public Health Fund ” on any "public health" program or activity such as media campaigns to encourage you to exercise more, publishing cookbooks that tell you what to eat, and grant programs that could be used to promote new taxes on soft drinks and other beverages without any further Congressional approval. This is money that is not specifically dedicated to research to actually prevent, treat, or cure diseases and disorders. Under the law, the fund is automatically replenished with taxpayer funds every year in perpetuity. Eliminating this fund would save approximately $17 billion over the next ten years alone.

Repeal the Mandatory Funding for School-Based Health Center Construction
Saves $200 million
The new health care law signed by President Obama provides $50 million a year through 2014 for construction, land acquisition and other capital costs for school-based health centers. The law did not, however, provide funding to support a center’s operating costs---allowing for the possibility that a center could be built that will never actually provide care to anyone! This funding is also duplicative of funding provided for health care centers in the stimulus law.

Repeal the Mandatory Funding for Graduate Medical Education
Saves $230 million
A provision in the health care law signed by President Obama provides an automatic $230 million for teaching health centers residency programs. While perhaps a laudable goal, mandatory taxpayer funding for these hospitals will actually disadvantage childrens’ hospitals graduate medical education programs that are subject to funding through the annual Congressional appropriations process each year. Eliminating this mandatory funding will ensure that taxpayer fund are not wasted, but go to the highest priority programs.

This Week in You Cut - March 29th, 2011

Help change the Spending Culture in Washington. Vote for You Cut. If you go to the website and vote on a cut, you will be registered to receive weekly notices for You Cut. Least of all we can all do this to participate in changing the culture of spend and borrow. At this point in time, I am voting for whatever cuts the most pork.....after all we're paying for it!

http://www.majorityleader.gov/YouCut/





Reduce printing and reproduction budget by 10%

$180 million in savings through FY16
The Department of Defense (DOD) proposes to spend $357 million on printing and reproduction services in fiscal year 2012 (FY12). While paper copies are often necessary for mission accomplishment, DOD should be encouraged to reduce spending on high quality, glossy color prints (such as the ones accompanying the FY12 budget rollout and other reports and briefings to Congress). Favoring a plain, black and white copy that uses both sides of the paper can still get the job done, and with emergent technologies such as electronic documentation the Department should be encouraged to process information without the use of paper printing and reproduction. A mere 10% reduction to this one account would generate $35.7 million in savings in FY12, reaching nearly $180 million in savings through FY16.


Reduce funding for Defense studies, analysis and evaluations

$120 million to the treasury through FY16
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has emphasized the need to fund the core mission of the Department, realigning dollars from non-essential cost areas to areas of direct mission support. One of those areas which does not provide direct support are the multiple requirements associated with studies, analysis and evaluations. Secretary Gates has implemented an initiative to eliminate unnecessary Defense boards and study groups, and this reduction would support the Secretary’s position to reduce unnecessary costs. A 10% reduction to this account would generate a savings of $24 million in FY12, returning up to $120 million to the treasury through FY16.


Restrict payout of annual nationwide adjustment and locality pay for below satisfactory workers

$80 million through FY16
Currently, all federal workers, no matter how they are rated on their performance, annually receive the January nationwide adjustment. Department of Defense (DOD) workers who are rated as “below satisfactory” still receive an increase in salary despite the fact that they are under performing. An incentive is necessary to entice these unsatisfactory personnel to increase their job performance. This proposal would prohibit payment of nationwide adjustments to any defense civilians rated at below satisfactory (estimated to be about 2% of DOD's over 700,000 workforce), generating approximately $21 million in savings while increasing productivity in the workforce. As employees become more satisfactory in future years, the savings would be approximately $80 million through FY16.

You Cut time again - March 10, 2011

You Cut time again. Go to http://www.majorityleader.gov/YouCut to vote. I voted to terminate the HAMP Program - what a collossal waste of money.

Terminate the Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Approximate $1 billion in savings
Created in 2008, this program provides funding to state and local government to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes. Congress has appropriated $7 billion for the program, including $2 billion in the Obama Administration’s stimulus bill. This program encourages government purchase of private homes and some critics have argued that it does not benefit at-risk homeowners facing foreclosure, and may instead create perverse incentives for banks and other lenders to foreclose on troubled borrowers – arguably worsening the housing crisis. This proposal would terminate the last installment of funding which was included in the financial regulation bill in the last Congress, savings taxpayers up to $1 billion.


Terminate the HAMP Program

The Obama Administration’s signature anti-foreclosure effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), has failed to help a sufficient number of distressed homeowners to justify the program’s cost. According to the Administration, HAMP was supposed to help 4 million homeowners. Instead, only 521,630 loans have been permanently modified under this program and the re-default rate is high. Far from helping at-risk homeowners, HAMP has actually made many worse off, according to the non-partisan Inspector General’s report. The Inspector General also concluded that the program “"continues to fall dramatically short of any meaningful standard of success."

To date, the Administration has spent approximately $840 million of the $29 billion earmarked for HAMP from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). This proposal would prohibit the government from incurring any additional obligations under this program, thus generating significant savings for taxpayers.


Terminate Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners Program
Savings of $87.5 million over ten years
The Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners program provides non-competitive grants to support culturally-based educational activities "to assist Alaska Natives, native Hawaiians, and children and families living in Massachusetts linked by history and tradition to Alaska and Hawaii, and members of any federally recognized Indian tribe in Mississippi." The President has proposed terminating this program in part because it is non-competitive in nature, there is no reliable performance data by which to measure the outcomes of the program, and it has "narrow goals [that] are more appropriately served with State, local, and private funding."

You Cut Update - 4 Feb 2011

Eric Cantor (R-VA), the House Majority Leader, reports last week's winning YouCut item, H.R. 359, passed the House in a 239 - 160 vote. This important spending reduction bill will save taxpayers $617 million by eliminating the Presidential Election Fund, including taxpayer financing of political party conventions.

It was a memorable moment to watch your House of Representatives vote in support of legislation directly backed by the YouCut community. Each week, your votes on the YouCut website will bring legislation to the House floor for a vote. Your support of the YouCut program will serve as a reminder to all those representing you in Washington that we need to get spending under control, so that we can grow the economy, create jobs and get people back to work.

Go to YouCut, vote for the You Cut of your choice and sign up for e-mail updates.

Obtain Refund of Funds Owed to the U.S. by the U.N. Tax Equalization Fund
Approximate $180 million in one time savings
As of December 31, 2009, the United Nations reported that it was holding almost $180 million that the U.S. had overpaid into the U.N.’s Tax Equalization Fund (TEF). It appears that the U.N. is still holding the U.S. funds because the Administration has not instructed the U.N. on how it wishes to dispose of them. By instructing the U.N. to return those funds to the U.S. we can generate savings for American taxpayers. In addition, the Administration should also demand that the process for Tax Equalization Fund withholdings be revised to prevent (or at least reduce) future discrepancies leading to such large surpluses.


Obtain Refund of Unspent Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities
Approximately $86 million in one-time savings
The United Nations has been holding approximately between $210 and $240 million in cash reserves from closed peacekeeping operations. These funds have been accumulating since the early 1990s. Successive U.N. Secretaries-General have requested authority to maintain these unspent funds in a Peacekeeping Reserve Fund, which allows them to cover shortfalls in peacekeeping and, at times, the general budget. However, U.N. regulations require that unspent funds from liquidated missions be returned to Member States within 12 months (with a potential extension to four years in order to meet receipts submitted by troop contributing countries). The U.S.-share of these unspent funds currently totals approximately $86 million. The U.S. should act to demand the reimbursement of these unspent funds.


Prohibit Economic Assistance to Countries Who Hold More Than $50 Billion in U.S. Debt
Savings of potentially $46 million over ten years
Of America's $14 trillion national debt, approximately $4.3 trillion is held by foreign countries. Over the past year, foreign holding of U.S. debt has increased by over $650 billion. Ironically, we actually provide economic assistance in the form of foreign aid to some of our largest creditors. For example, in 2010 U.S. taxpayers provided approximately $4.7 million in economic assistance for countries, including China, that hold in excess of $50 billion in U.S. government debt (this excludes funds for environmental programs). In short, Congress is borrowing money from foreign countries and turning around using some of that money to provide them with economic grants. This proposal would prohibit any economic foreign aid to a country that holds $50 billion or more in U.S. debt.

This Week's You Cut - NPR Funding Cut Suggested

NPR firing Juan Williams for expressing his opinion demonstrates an over-reaching political correctness that is chipping away at the fundamental American freedoms of speech and expression....that's what Eric Cantor, House Republican Whip says and I agree with him. That's why I'm voting on this week's You Cut to termination of federal funding for NPR in the latest round of YouCut options.

Go to: http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/


Terminate Taxpayer Funding of National Public Radio
Savings of Tens of Millions of Dollars (potentially in excess of a hundred million dollars)
National Public Radio's (NPR) recent decision to terminate commentator Juan Williams contract because of comments he expressed on another station have brought new found attention to NPR's receipt of taxpayer funds.

NPR receives taxpayer funding in two different ways. First, they receive direct government grants from various federal agencies, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Over the past two years this direct funding has totaled approximately $9 million. But NPR also receives taxpayer funds indirectly. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting makes grants to public radio stations. While some of these grants can be used for any purpose, some can only be used to acquire and produce programming. Often this programming is purchased from NPR. Indeed programming fees and dues paid by local public radio stations to NPR accounts for approximately 40% of NPR's budget or about $65 million last year. A portion of these funds were originally federal tax dollars provided to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to the local public radio stations.

NPR receives a significant amount of funding from private individuals and organizations through donations and sponsorships. For example in 2008, NPR listed over 32 separate private donors and sponsors who provided financial support in excess of half-a-million dollars that year. NPR officials have indicated that taxpayer funding makes up only a small portion of their overall budget. Therefore eliminating taxpayer support should not materially affect NPR’s ability to operate while at the same time saving taxpayers millions of dollars annually.


Terminate Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners Program
Savings of $87.5 million over ten years
The Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners program provides non-competitive grants to support culturally-based educational activities “to assist Alaska Natives, native Hawaiians, and children and families living in Massachusetts linked by history and tradition to Alaska and Hawaii, and members of any federally recognized Indian tribe in Mississippi.” The President has proposed terminating this program in part because it is non-competitive in nature, there is no reliable performance data by which to measure the outcomes of the program, and it has “narrow goals [that] are more appropriately served with State, local, and private funding.”


Terminate the Presidential Election Fund
Savings of $520 million over ten years.
The Presidential Election Fund is a federal program that provides matching funds to political candidates during Presidential primaries, certain third-party candidates, and funds for political conventions. In the 2008 Presidential election the candidates raised over $1.3 billion from individuals and PACs, in addition to taxpayer funds. Eliminating this additional taxpayer subsidy would allow those funds to be used for deficit reduction.

You Cut Vote - 27 September 2010

It's You Cut time again where the American People vote on what they want cut from the bloated Federal Budget. This week's choice are below. Please Vote by going to:
http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/


I voted to eliminate the TARP Program.


Terminate the TARP Program Prohibiting Any Additional Bailouts
Save taxpayers potentially several billion dollars over the next ten years
While the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is supposed to end on October 3rd, under a provision of the recently enacted financial regulation bill it is still possible for the government to make new bailouts through any program that was already in place on June 25, 2010. This could include additional commitments to AIG and / or additional commitments to the Administration’s mortgage modification programs. In August it was estimated that spending from TARP will range between $4 billion and $7 billion a year between 2011 and 2014, mainly for the Administration’s mortgage programs. Acting to terminate TARP now may reduce these expenditures.


Terminate the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation
Save taxpayers $10 million over ten years.
The Columbus Foundation is an agency of the government established in 1992 with an endowment funded by the sale of coins to provide fellowships “to encourage and support research, study, and labor designed to produce new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind.” The program is duplicative of other government efforts, and according to the Obama Administration, “the Foundation has not demonstrated clear outcomes from its awards and has high overhead costs.” Finally, no Administration has ever requested funding for the Foundation.


Eliminate Government Funding for Auto Research that the Private Sector is Already Doing
Save taxpayers $2 billion over ten years
The Department of Energy’s “FreedomCAR” program provides funding for research on fuel cell technology through a partnership between the federal government and private industry. While the federally funded program’s mission of putting greener cars on American highways is worthwhile, the private sector is already conducting this type of research. Cutting this duplicative program would save American taxpayers $2 billion over 10 years. (NOTE: This proposed cut was the winner of a YouCut program sponsored by Rep. John Kline (MN) in which 1,400 participants cast votes.)


Terminate Department of Agriculture High Energy Cost Grants
Save taxpayers $180 million over ten years.
The High Energy Cost program provides grants (as opposed to loans) for the purpose of improving and providing energy generation, transmission and distribution facilities serving communities with above average home energy costs. The Administration has proposed terminating this program arguing that "it is duplicative of, and less effective than, the Rural Utilities Service's (RUS) Electric Loan Program."


Reduce Funding for the Wild Horse and Burro Program to Previously Projected Levels
Save taxpayers approximately $280 million over ten years
Since 1971 the Department of Interior has managed a program to maintain and support the wild horse and burro population that roams federal lands. This program received $64 million in funding this year, an increase of 77% compared to the 2008 level. Various administrations have struggled to achieve a sustainable population of wild horse and burros. While legislative and administrative changes are necessary, reducing spending to a minimum of 2008 levels would achieve savings of $28 million this year for taxpayers.

You Cut Time Again

If you haven't participated on You Cut, voting to cut wasteful government projects and programs, then please do so! Then spread the word and the web site address.

If you are a recurring You Cut voter, then spread the word and the web site!

This week's candidate for the Axe, include:

Prohibit Mandated Project Labor Union Agreements That Increase Government Construction Costs
Saves: 10 to 20 percent per construction project, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars

Suspend Federal Land Purchases
Saves $266 million next year and $2.66 billion over ten years

Require Collection of Unpaid Taxes From Federal Employees
Savings of potentially $1 billion

Prohibit Taxpayer Funding for Campaigns in Foreign Countries and Recoup the Misspent Funds
Saves $23 million

Eliminate the "Dodd Clinic" Earmark From Obamacare
Savings of $100 million over ten years

You Cut Update

Previous Cuts Chosen By the Public under the You Cut Program

Each week, the public votes on which items should be brought to the House Floor. Here is a list of previous winning cuts.....

Week One: Cut the New Non-Reformed Welfare Program ($25 Billion Savings)

Week Two: Eliminate Federal Employee Pay Raise ($30 Billion Savings)

Week Three: Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ($30 Billion Savings)

Week Four: Sell Excess Federal Property ($15 Billion Savings)

Week Five: Prohibit Hiring New IRS Agents to Enforce Health Care Law ($15 Billion Savings)

Week Six: Taxpayer Subsidized Union Activities ($1.2 Billion Savings)

Week Seven: Prohibit Stimulus Funding for Promotional Signage (Tens of Millions)

Week Eight: Prohibit Sleeper Car Subsidies on Amtrak ($1.2 billion Savings)

This is the cut I voted for this week:

Bipartisan Proposal to Terminate the Advanced Earned Income Tax Credit
Saves $1.1 billion over ten years
On July 20th, four Democrat Congressmen launched a working group to focus on deficit reduction. Among the savings put forward by the lawmakers was endorsement of a proposal advocated by the Administration to terminate the Advanced Earned Income Tax Credit (AEITC) because it "has a high error rate and is not widely utilized by eligible taxpayers." Under the program, eligible taxpayers may receive a portion of their EITC throughout the year in their paychecks. A government audit revealed that some 80 percent of recipients did not comply with at least one program requirement; 20 percent had invalid Social Security numbers and thus may not have been eligible for the credit; 40 percent failed to file the annual tax return required to reconcile the credit; and of the 60 percent of recipients who did file a return, two-thirds misreported the amount received. As a result, this program is particularly susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse.

Please go to You Cut and make your own vote.