Group Issues Study to Save Taxpayers over a Trillion Dollars

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Jason Donofrio

Watchdog Group Comes Up with Policy Recommendations for New “Debt Commission”

Arizona PIRG

As concerns mount of the government’s growing deficit, the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG) issued a new list of policy recommendations that would save American taxpayers over a trillion dollars.

The recommendations from Arizona PIRG are in response to President Barack Obama’s new bipartisan “debt commission,” the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, announced last week and which aims to balance the budget by 2015 and strengthen the government’s financial health.

To calculate The First Trillion, Arizona PIRG looked at existing tax code for loopholes, reviewed government reports on wasteful contracting practices and crunched the numbers. The group came up with ways the government can save the first trillion dollars by enacting common sense policy that is in the public interest.

“To truly put everything on the table, the Commission cannot ignore gaping corporate loopholes and tax breaks that have gone unchecked,” said Diane E. Brown, Executive Director for Arizona PIRG. “There has also been ample evidence that all agencies need to undergo scrutiny when it comes to the tidal wave of money spend on contracts.”

A number of the provisions were included in the President’s budget last year and this year, but these have never made their way into final legislation.  Some of the largest potential revenues can be derived from closing loopholes that enable large corporations and individuals to make use of offshore tax havens for business or banking.

“In addition to bailing out bankers now rolling in bonus money, taxpayers and small businesses on Main Street have had to assume the tax burden of those who use every trick in the book to avoid paying taxes,” Brown added. “This has got to end, and enacting the policy recommendations in The First Trillion report are a good place to start.”

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