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Coalition Forms to Oppose Wasteful Government Spending in Lame-Duck Session

Lame-duck spending could bail out Obamacare insurers, revive Export-Import Bank

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AP
August 30, 2016

More than 30 organizations representing millions of taxpayers have come together to write a letter to Congress, urging them to oppose wasteful government spending in a lame-duck session at the end of this year.

"We believe as advocates of limited government that negotiating spending deals in a lame-duck session of Congress puts our side in a bad position," said Andy Koenig, senior policy adviser at Freedom Partners, a group that is part of the coalition. "Leaving a must-pass spending bill in a lame duck puts a threat of a government shutdown into the hands of unaccountable members of Congress and makes the bill a vehicle for special interest handouts."

Koenig says that currently there are 44 members of Congress who are not returning to their seats and there are dozens more members who may lose them.

"If they have this must-pass vehicle looming, then they can tack on a lot of stuff in to there and we know traditionally that these bills are formulated behind closed doors, shown to the American public hours before they are voted on, and no one has the time to go look and see what’s in them," he said. "They become Trojan horses for a bunch of special interest handouts."

According to Koenig, it doesn’t matter if Congress puts together an omnibus spending bill in September, a minibus that would go into next year, or if Congress passes a six-month continuing resolution.

"What we don’t want to see is people voting on a must-pass spending bill between the election in November and then when Congress comes back in January," he said. "We want to make sure that when people are voting on this spending bill they are going to be held accountable to voters."

In the past, members of Congress have benefited from must-pass lame-duck spending bills.

"We’ve seen gas tax increases, we’ve seen congressional pay hikes, and consistently seen plus ups and things that are hidden in there that go specifically towards individuals, companies, or programs that are for members who are leaving Congress," Koenig said.

"There’s more and more conversation about Obamacare failing and about how all these insurers are getting out of Obamacare exchanges and a lot more people up on the Hill talking to members about trying to get a bailout to protect companies that are in these exchanges," he said. "So we see just a lot of threats that are out there that a must-pass vehicle in a lame-duck would provide kind of a target for lobbyists to go in and swarm on."

"Whether it’s reviving the Export-Import bank, bailing out Obamacare, passing special interest tax handouts, or increasing funding for pet projects, all of these things moved into lame-duck become real risks for taxpayers," Koenig said.