Businesses do it better
President's plan to cut government waste
Bennett Rawicki
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Commentary
President Bush recently announced the record-breaking 2008 federal budget: three trillion dollars. The government could buy every American a new Apple air-thin laptop and send us to the French Riviera for Spring Break. But because they are clearly not entitling me to such a vacation, how is the three trillion dollars being spent?
For starters, the federal government pays for its three branches and their administrative costs; then the military, which includes about two million men and women. The federal government also operates the U.S. Postal Service, which in 2007 netted enough profit with its million employees to be considered a Fortune 500 company.
It is when the federal government enters into the grey or Do Not Enter areas of the Constitution that costs really spike uncontrollably. The federal departments and agencies, almost one hundred and fifty of them, perform tasks from directing education and health care to ensuring rungs on a ladder are the proper distance apart. Two million people work in this maze of bureaucratic tape, with no competition for their jobs and few incentives for efficiency. But that was before Bush came to office.
The President's management agenda, a little discussed but hugely beneficial part of the Bush Administration, has injected competition into government agencies. In some technological fields, government workers now square off against private firms for a six-month period and whoever completes more work gets the contract, usually switching government work to the private sector where it is cheaper.
In one such competition in California, the government contracted out earthquake repairs to a private firm who completed their task in two months instead of the government estimated two years, while saving eighty-four million dollars. The Navy and Army have outsourced their software and intranet jobs to private companies because as one analyst said, the military "is best at fighting military actions, not administering data centers or developing software."
For starters, the federal government pays for its three branches and their administrative costs; then the military, which includes about two million men and women. The federal government also operates the U.S. Postal Service, which in 2007 netted enough profit with its million employees to be considered a Fortune 500 company.
It is when the federal government enters into the grey or Do Not Enter areas of the Constitution that costs really spike uncontrollably. The federal departments and agencies, almost one hundred and fifty of them, perform tasks from directing education and health care to ensuring rungs on a ladder are the proper distance apart. Two million people work in this maze of bureaucratic tape, with no competition for their jobs and few incentives for efficiency. But that was before Bush came to office.
The President's management agenda, a little discussed but hugely beneficial part of the Bush Administration, has injected competition into government agencies. In some technological fields, government workers now square off against private firms for a six-month period and whoever completes more work gets the contract, usually switching government work to the private sector where it is cheaper.
In one such competition in California, the government contracted out earthquake repairs to a private firm who completed their task in two months instead of the government estimated two years, while saving eighty-four million dollars. The Navy and Army have outsourced their software and intranet jobs to private companies because as one analyst said, the military "is best at fighting military actions, not administering data centers or developing software."
Be the first to comment on this story