AMA 155 - Citizens Against Government Waste and the Congressional Pig Book with Tom Schatz
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Thomas A. Schatz is president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and its lobbying affiliate, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW).
Mr. Schatz is a nationally-recognized spokesperson on government waste and has been interviewed on hundreds of radio talk shows from coast to coast.\\xa0 He is a regularly featured guest on national television news programs and local news broadcasts.\\xa0 His appearances include ABC\\u2019s \\u201cGood Morning America,\\u201d CBS\\u2019s \\u201c60 Minutes,\\u201d FOX News Channel\\u2019s \\u201cThe O\\u2019Reilly Factor,\\u201d NBC\\u2019s \\u201cNightly News,\\u201d and PBS\\u2019s \\u201cThe News Hour.\\u201d\\xa0 He was a regularly featured guest on the "Pork Watch" segment of CNBC\\u2019s "Squawk Box."\\xa0 His editorials on fiscal policy have appeared in publications nationwide, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Schatz has testified numerous times on government waste issues before committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, as well as before state and local legislative and regulatory bodies.
During his 30 years with CAGW, Mr. Schatz has helped make CAGW a \\u201cleading government watchdog on fiscally conservative issues, like taxes and earmarks,\\u201d according to National Journal. He has been named one of the \\u201ctop lobbyists\\u201d in Washington for the past six years by The Hill. The newspaper also cited CAGW for its leading role in successfully pushing for the congressional earmark moratorium, which was identified as one of the \\u201ctop 10 lobbying victories\\u201d of 2010.
Prior to joining CAGW in 1986, Mr. Schatz spent six years as legislative director for Congressman Hamilton Fish Jr. and two years practicing law and lobbying.
Key Takeaways:
[1:37] This years pork report
[4:00] What Congress has done with spending bills that is creating less transparency and less trust in the system
[8:02] The difference that having a business person in the White House rather than a lawyer/politician might make
[11:55] If people are actually paying attention to local politics
Website Mentioned:
www.cagw.org