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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Bipartisan Plan Plots Path to Cut One Trillion in DC Spending

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Friday, September 16, 2011   

PHOENIX - Two groups often at odds over federal policies have issued a joint report identifying $1 trillion in potential spending cuts. The study comes as a congressional "super committee" begins its search for $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions.

Serena Unrein, a public-interest advocate with Arizona PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), says her watchdog group partnered with the National Taxpayers Union to identify the "low-hanging fruit" of unneeded federal spending.

"Our organizations have often differed about the proper regulatory scope of government and a host of tax policies, but we both believe that we spend too much money on ineffective programs that don't serve the best interests of the American public."

Some of the biggest proposed cuts involve ending farm subsidies and outdated or ineffective military programs. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is a member of the congressional "super committee."

The proposed cuts in subsidies to agribusiness and large corporations include ending the ethanol tax credit and what Unrein calls "subsidies for obesity."

"We think it makes sense to stop subsidizing crops and agribusiness that end up processing high-fructose corn syrup, fats and oils that end up going into junk food which contributes to our country's obesity problem."

The study proposes savings of nearly $250 billion from streamlining government programs to eliminate payment errors, duplication and inefficiency. Unrein says the plan gives the congressional "super committee" a good starting point for reaching their goal.

"It's their job to come up with $1.5 trillion in spending reductions, and we think that these things are just no-brainer solutions and we wanted to make their job easy."

The report can be found online at ArizonaPirg.org.



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