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City Club of Cleveland - Thomas A. Schatz, President, Citizens Against Government Waste
CAGW was founded by the late industrialist J. Peter Grace and late Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jack Anderson in 1984 following the completion of President Ronald Reagan's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control (the Grace Commission). A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization, CAGW works to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government and has attracted more than one million members and supporters nationwide. According to official Office of Management and Budget and CAGW estimates, implementation of Grace Commission and other CAGW waste-cutting recommendations has helped save taxpayers $1.04 trillion.
Mr. Schatz is a nationally-recognized spokesperson on government waste and has been interviewed on hundreds of radio talk shows from coast to coast. He was a regularly featured guest on national television news programs and local news broadcasts. His appearances include ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS's "60 Minutes," Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," NBC's "Nightly News," and PBS's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." He was a regularly featured guest on CNBC's "Squak Box" during their "Pork Watch" segment". His editorials on fiscal policy have appeared in publications nationwide, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Schatz has testified numerous times on government waste issues before committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, as well as before state and local legislative and regulatory bodies.
During his 26 years with CAGW, Mr. Schatz has spearheaded a development program that has increased the organization's members and supporters from 5,000 to more than 1,000,000.
Prior to joining CAGW in 1986, Mr. Schatz spent six years as legislative director for Congressman Hamilton Fish Jr. and two years practicing law and lobbying.
Mr. Schatz holds a law degree from George Washington University and graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a BA degree, With Honors, in Political Science. He is married to Leslee Behar and has two daughters, Samantha and Alexandra.
January 28, 2011