"Spending Is The Problem

"RedState is pleased to welcome Virginia's Senator George Allen to the front page. We'll be keeping this up top for a while. You can scroll down for more recent content.

Just a few short years ago, the blogosphere – a powerful new branch of the media – burst onto the scene and swiftly became an integral part of our American laboratory of ideas. In short order, it became something that no pundit or journalist could afford to ignore. Candidates gradually learned the ropes of the blogosphere, too, and few candidates today would dream of campaigning without engaging the blogosphere.

Recently, though, the blogosphere took the next step. Because of the efforts of bloggers – and, in particular, a bipartisan blog effort called Porkbusters – the blogosphere helped to pass legislation. The Federal Funding Accountability And Transparency Act of 2006 was signed into law on September 26th, 2006, creating a searchable database of federal grants and contracts so that, beginning in 2008, citizens can go online to see exactly how and where the Federal Government is spending their money. That means greater transparency and accountability for American taxpayers. I was proud to be a sponsor of that bill.

Porkbusters represents citizens demanding accountability from their government. That is grassroots activism at its very best, and I share their goal.

Read on . . .

Congress doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. Toward that end, I have supported a “Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights,” including:

• The Line Item Veto: Senator Talent and I have taken the lead on legislation proposing a Constitutional amendment to give the President the authority that 43 State governors presently possess, and which I had as Governor of Virginia – the line-item veto – which would hold the President and Congress accountable for non-essential wasteful government spending.
• The Balanced Budget Amendment: I have also introduced a constitutional balanced budget amendment which ensures both fiscal responsibility and helps to restrain the federal government to its constitutionally limited mandates, leaving more powers and freedoms to the States and to the people.
• The Paycheck Penalty: This legislation that I introduced would withhold the salaries of members of Congress if they do not pass appropriations bills on time. This helps to avoid omnibus spending packages that become great vehicles for wasteful spending
• Supermajority Vote: I support requiring a supermajority vote to increase spending beyond the rate of inflation.

I am also a sponsor of the “Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act,” which would establish a commission to review Federal agencies and programs and recommend the elimination of duplicate, wasteful, or outdated programs and agencies.

I also support passage of the “Stop Over Spending Act of 2006,” which I have sponsored, that includes several important provisions including: Presidential line-item veto authority; statutory caps for discretionary spending; a commission to look for fraud, waste, abuse and duplications across federal agencies and programs; an Entitlement Solvency Commission to make legislative recommendations to save the entitlement programs from financial ruin; and creation of a two year budget, authorization, and appropriation cycle.

I applaud Porkbusters’ citizen activism, which aims to increase transparency in government in order to cut wasteful and unnecessary pork barrel spending. I share that goal. "

http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2006/spending_is_the_problem