According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the tax extenders bill will provide $50 billion in net tax increases to pay for $105 billion in spending for a net deficit increase of $55 billion, all of which is exempted from PAYGO through budget gimmicks.

President Obama signed the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act (PAYGO) into law in February requiring Congress to pay for new spending by cutting lower priority spending to offset the new costs.

In the weeks following its enactment, the Senate has repeatedly ignored the spirit of PAYGO by voting to borrow $252 billion to finance the cost of new government spending.

Senator Tom Coburn is now offering an amendment, #4331, to pay for the cost of the tax extenders bill by reducing wasteful spending, inefficient, and duplicate government spending. Specifically, the amendment would yield savings of at least $379 billion.

Senator Coburn is utilizing a parliamentary tactic known as the “clay pigeon” which divides his amendment into 20 separate amendments, to reduce government spending, eliminate tax increases, and bring transparency to how the senate adds billions of dollars to our deficit. In light of the national debt recently surpassing $13 trillion, this procedural maneuver will ensure Senators are given an opportunity to re-examine the budgets of nearly every federal department, including the budget of Congress, to make modest reductions in unnecessary and unaffordable spending.

As a candidate for president in 2008, Barack Obama pledged to “spend taxpayer money wisely,” and specifically to “eliminate wasteful redundancy,” stating that “too often, federal departments take on functions or services that are already being done or could be done elsewhere within the federal government more effectively. The result is unnecessary redundancy and the inability of the government to benefit from economies of scale and integrated, streamlined operations.”

Unfortunately, little has been done in the last year to accomplish these goals as spending and the number of new government programs have increased. Because of Congress out of control spending, the U.S. national debt increased more than $4 billion every day in the past year. While most of the country faces tough financial times and tax revenues have declined, and Congress continues to approve double-digit spending increases for bloated federal agencies wrought with duplication, waste, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer funding.

This amendment would accomplish what the president has pledged and what the American people expect by reducing excessive and unnecessary spending and saving at least $379 billion.

More details of the amendment can be found HERE on Senator Coburn’s website.

Divisions of Coburn Amendment #4331

Division Purpose Savings Status

I. DISCLOSING TRUE COST OF CONGRESSIONAL BORROWING AND SPENDING. No savings. Status: Pending

II. REDUCING BUDGETS OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. $100 million one time savings. Status: Pending

III. ENACTING THE WHITE HOUSE’S PROPOSED FIVE PERCENT CUT ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING. $22 billion one time savings. Status: Pending

IV. ELIMINATING NON-ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT TRAVEL $10 billion ten year savings. Status: Pending

V. REDUCING UNNECESSARY PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COSTS OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS. $4.4 billion ten year savings. Status: Pending

VI. DISPOSING OF UNNEEDED AND UNUSED GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. $15 billion in direct savings/revenue. Status: Pending

VII. AUCTIONING AND SELLING OF UNUSED AND UNNEEDED EQUIPMENT. $250 million ten year savings. Status: Pending

VIII. CAPPING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. Undetermined savings. Status: Pending

IX. TEMPORARY ONE-YEAR FREEZE ON COST OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES SALARIES. $2.6 billion one time savings. Status: Pending

X. COLLECTION OF UNPAID TAXES FROM EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. $3 billion in revenues. Status: Pending

XI. REDUCING EXCESSIVE DUPLICATION AND OVERHEAD WITHIN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Undetermined savings. Status: Pending

XII. ELIMINATING BONUSES FOR POOR PERFORMANCE BY GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS. $8 billion ten year savings. Status: Pending

XIII. $1 BILLION LIMITATION ON VOLUNTARY PAYMENTS TO THE UNITED NATIONS. $10 billion ten year savings. Status: Pending

XIV. RETURNING EXCESSIVE FUNDS FROM AN UNNECESSARY, UNNEEDED, UNREQUESTED, DUPLICATIVE RESERVE FUND THAT MAY NEVER BE SPENT. $362 million one time savings. Status: Pending

XV. RESCINDING A STATE DEPARTMENT TRAINING FACILITY UNWANTED BY RESIDENTS OF THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH IT IS IT IS PLANNED TO BE CONSTRUCTED. $500 million one time saving. Status: Pending

XVI. ELIMINATING A WASTEFUL AND INEFFICIENT GOVERNMENT PROGRAM. $627 million ten year savings. Status: Pending

XVII. RESCINDING UNSPENT FEDERAL FUNDS. $50 billion one time savings. Status: Pending

XVIII. REDUCING WASTEFUL ENERGY COSTS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.

$13.8 million one time savings. Status: Pending

XIX. STRIKE AN EARMARK IN THE BILL PROVIDING HIGHER PAY RATES FOR SOME CALIFORNIA DOCTORS $400 million ten year savings. Status: Pending

XX. STRIKE TAX INCREASES No savings. Status: Pending