Schrader to introduce “Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse Act of 2010”

Today, members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, under the leadership of Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR), announced their plans to introduce the "Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse Act of 2010," a critical component of the Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform. This legislation fulfills the program integrity component of the blueprint by making strategic investments in programs aimed at preventing wasteful government spending.

"American taxpayers are frustrated with the amount of waste and fraud being found in government programs," said Schrader. "This legislation will significantly reduce the amount of waste in federal programs, improve program efficiency, and most importantly save taxpayers money."

The Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform is a coalition-wide effort to implement 15 commonsense budget reform tools aimed at balancing the budget within 10 years by establishing a realistic debt-to-GDP ratio of 60%.

Specifically, the "Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse Act of 2010" would:

- Provide the Executive Agencies the financial resources they need to enforce the laws of the United States and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the Children's Health Insurance Program, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance, and Unemployment Insurance.
- Make additional investments in IRS tax enforcement efforts to make sure individuals are not paying more than their fair share.
- Save the American people more than $35 billion over the next 5 and more than $132 billion over the next 10 fiscal years.
- Put the necessary tools in place in order to effectively track the progress, and evaluate and reengineer programs to produce better government.

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