By Tom Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste
In response to President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 25, CAGW President Tom Schatz issued the following statement: “We are pleased with the President’s commitment to veto 
bills containing earmarks, something our organization has championed for 22 years. Regrettably, a White House factsheet has already indicated that bills with ‘special interest’ earmarks will be vetoed, potentially leaving the determination of ‘special’ or ‘national’ interest up to the President. We hope President Obama treats all earmarks as equally unjustified…In the first 35 minutes of President Obama’s speech, he talked about the programs that he wants to create, when he should have talked about which should be cut…Disappointingly, President Obama said he will cap, rather than cut, non-defense discretionary spending for five years. Such spending has increased by 23 percent since 2008, and the national debt has increased by $3 trillion over the last two years. The status quo is insufficient.
