Deficit reduction uniting budget foes

Congressional negotiators aiming to slash the federal budget deficit are getting help from all corners, including some unlikely new allies.  

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), each with different views on fiscal policy, teamed up and compiled a report with 54 specific cuts totaling more than $1 trillion from across the federal government, including eliminating subsidies, streamlining operations and ending unnecessary military programs. 

The report, released Thursday, details $214.9 billion in savings from eliminating subsidies, including ethanol and oil, $428.8 billion in savings from military programs, $232.3 billion from improving government operations and $132.1 billion in savings from reforms to entitlement programs.

“These recommendations correct years of insider lobbying that has benefited narrow interests allowing room either for investment in valued programs or deficit reduction,” said co-author Dan Smith, U.S. PIRG tax and budget associate. 

The report updates and builds on recommendations by the president’s fiscal commission. 

Most congressional committees and many off-Capitol Hill groups are working on recommendations to present to the deficit-reduction panel, which comprises 12 lawmakers from the House and the Senate. 

Co-author Andrew Moylan, vice president of government affairs for the NTU, said "there is actually a large amount of agreement between watchdog groups, both right and left, about where the waste is in the budget."

The report represents a comprehensive review of the budget and spending, he said. 

He said he "hopes the panel listens very closely" to the recommendations, which are in the "broad national interest to get rid of wasteful spending."

"This is the low-hanging fruit of the federal budget," he said. 

The congressional supercommittee is charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction and needs to complete its work by Nov. 23. Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, told the panel this week that his office needs a plan by the end of October to provide a score of how much it will cut.