Citizens Against Government Waste

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a right-wing 501(c)3 non-profit that has campaigned on behalf of the tobacco industry and in favor of Microsoft and against open source software. CAGW is an "associate" member of the State Policy Network (SPN).

CAGW has an affiliated 501(c)4 nonprofit lobbying arm, The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), "to advocate the elimination of waste and inefficiency in government through lobbying and grassroots activities. Each year, CCAGW tabulates its Congressional Ratings, evaluating how each member of Congress measures up on key tax and spending votes."

State Policy Network

SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom. As of October 2019, SPN's membership totals 162. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2019 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $120 million. Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothers and the national right-wing network of funders.

In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"

A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

CAGW has ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). It has been a member of ALEC's Communications and Technology Task Force and Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force. According to an August 2013 ALEC board document obtained by The Guardian, it terminated its ALEC membership on April 12, 2013.

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

History

CAGW was founded by in 1984 by J. Peter Grace (1913-1995) and Jack Anderson.

CAGW Critical of Open Source Software

Australian blogger Tim Lambert mentioned in June 2004 CAGW as one of several "think tanks" writing reports critical of open source software. CAGW's press release of July 12, 2004 is just another example. "People mistakenly refer to open source as 'free' software because it can be freely altered and distributed. Yet while the software itself is free, the cost to maintain and upgrade it can become very expensive," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "Maintenance, training and support are far more expensive with open source than proprietary software."<ref. Citizens Against Government Waste, Government Reinforces Software Guidelines, press release, July 12, 2004.</ref>

In 1999 the New York Times had described CAGW as one of a number of "Microsoft-financed groups".

Funding

CAGW, an IRS 501(c)(3) tax deductible charity, is closely linked to the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) which is an IRS 501(c)(4) and therefore it is not a tax deductible organization but more free to do lobbying. "[CCAGW] is the lobbying arm of CGAW."

CAGW has consitently received funding from the right-wing Bradley Foundation. CAGW has also received $5.7 from DonorsTrust and Donors Capitol Fund since 2010. (See the full list of DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund Grant Recipients).

Media Transparency's database records CAGW as having received 8 grants totalling $225,000 (unadjusted for inflation) from three foundations - the Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation, John M. Olin Foundation and Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

The right-wing Capital Research Center (CRC) noted in its Searchlight database (which records corporate and general foundation contributions) that CAGW has "received funding from:

• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
• Merrill Lynch & Company Foundation
• Exxon Corporation (now ExxonMobil)
• Ingersoll-Rand Company
• Johnson & Johnson
• F.M. Kirby Foundation
• Philip Morris
• RJR Nabisco (now part of the Altria Group)
• Sears Roebuck & Company[1]
• John Deere Foundation
• Eaton Charitable Fund
• Columbia/HCA Foundation

However, CRC's database generally did not record direct corporate contributions as distinct from grants from corporate foundations. A few examples of tobacco industry donations to CAGW:

• Philip Morris
  • 1995, $50,000 [2]
  • 1996, $50,000 [3]
  • 1997, $50,000 [4]
  • 1998, $35,000 [5]
  • 1999, $10,000 (budgeted) [6]
• The Tobacco Institute
  • 1999, $10,000 (budgeted) [7]

Core Financials

2015

• Total Revenue: $7,019,241
• Total Expenses: $3,023,349
• Net Assets: $4,648,573

2014

• Total Revenue: $2,979,764
• Total Expenses: $3,435,427
• Net Assets: $640,241

2013

• Total Revenue: $2,976,032
• Total Expenses: $3,089,908
• Net Assets: $1,254,898

2012

• Total Revenue: $3,267,300
• Total Expenses: $3,303,535
• Net Assets: $1,164,273

Personnel

Alan Keyes was president of CAGW from 1989 to 1991 and since the early 1990s Thomas A. Schatz has been president. See the full staff list on CAGW's website here.

Board of Directors

• Steven Hofman, Chair
• Jeffrey P. Altman, Partner, McKenna & Cuneo, L.L.P.
• Michael Franc, D.C. Director Hoover Institution
• Mary J. Grace, Principal, Mary J. Grace Architectural and Interior Design
• Robert C. Heckman, Principal, Cpaitol City Partners
• Thomas A. Schatz, President, Citizens Against Government Waste

Former Board of Directors

• Jack Anderson, Co-Founder
• George S. Goldberger, Chief Administrative Officer, Progenitor Cell Therapy, L.L.C.
• Patrick P. Grace, President and CEO, Kingdon Group L.L.C.
• Hon. Vin Weber, Senior Partner, Clark & Weinstock, Inc.

Staff

• Thomas A. Schatz, President
• Leslie K. Paige, Vice President, Policy & Communications
• Ariane E. Sweeney, Vice President, Membership & Development
• William M. Christian, Director of Government Affairs
• Rachel Cole, Policy and Government Affairs Associate
• Deborah Collier, Director of Technology and Telecommunications Policy
• William H. Flores Jr., Director of Digital Operations
• Kyle Hanlin, Director of Donor Relations
• Curtis Kalin, Director of Media Relations
• Sean Kennedy, Director of Research
• Andrew Nehring, State Policy and Government Affairs Manager
• Martin Rundle, Director of Development
• Ally Schatz, Social Media Manager
• Paul Sullivan, Membership Services Manager
• Elizabeth L. Wright, Director of Health and Science Policy
• Mekdes Yifru, Controller
• Ernestine Hill, Office Administrator

Contact Information

CAGW Employer Identification Number (EIN): 52-1363925
CCAGW Employer Indentification Number (EIN): 51-1369152

Citizens Against Government Waste
1100 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 650
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202).467.5300
Website: http://www.cagw.org
Twitter: @GovWaste
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CAGW/

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

• Industry-funded organization
• Microsoft
• Phillip Morris
• Tobacco industry

External Articles

• Mark Megalli, Andy Friedman, "Citizens Against Government, Masks of Deception: Corporate Front Groups in America," December 1991
• Citizens Against Government Waste, "A Proposal to Philip Morris Companies, Inc.", 1996.
• John M. Broder and Joel Brinkley, "U.S. versus Microsoft: The strategy: How Microsoft Sought Friends In Washington", New York Times, November 7, 1999.
• "Microsoftball Journalism", Albion Monitor, June 2000.
• Ted Bridis, "W.Va., Mass., Continue Microsoft Battle", Associated Press, December 03, 2002
• "Mass. Taxpayers Hurt by Proposed Software Monopoly", Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, September 30, 2003
• Tom Finnigan, "Massachusetts Not So Open For Business", Citizens Against Government Waste, October 29, 2003
• Tim Lambert, "When Think Tanks Attack", Deltoid weblog, June 23, 2004.
• Media Transparency, "Citizens Against Government Waste", accessed January 2005.
• Capital Research Center, "Citizens Against Government Waste", Searchlight, accessed January 2005.
• Citizens Against Government Waste, "FAQ", accessed January 2005.
• Bill Adair, For price, watchdog will be an advocate Citizens Against Government Waste made a name for itself by exposing government waste. But it has quietly made a lot of its money by lobbying, St. Petersburg Times, April 2, 2006.
• James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt, "Senate Report: Five Nonprofit Groups Sold Clout to Abramoff," Washington Post, October 12, 2006.
• Bill Adair, "Groups hide behind tax code", St Petersburg Times, December 11, 2006.
• Jim Snyder, "Nuclear advocates try to clear obstacles," The Hill, November 8, 2007. "'Taxpayers should not be required to finance billions in risky loan guarantees [for new nuclear plants],' states a letter that TCS (Taxpayers for Common Sense), the National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste jointly sent to Congress."
• Robert O'Harrow Jr., "McCain Campaign Calls; A Nonprofit Steps In," Washington Post, May 31, 2008.
• Alex Leary, "Citizens Against Government Waste's ad against GE jet engine says GE rival paid for it," St. Petersburg Times (Florida), August 24, 2009.

References

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