Talking about getting rid of government waste has become popular. If it were a fashion, it would be the hottest color coming out of Italy.
President-elect Barack Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are talking a good game. Obama wants to cut earmarks and now, according to a January 5, 2009 MSNBC.com article:
Mr. Obama will use his public events this week to promise what one adviser called “radical reforms” to impose more control over the regular federal budget down the road.
As mentioned, Nancy Pelosi is joining this party:
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House speaker, said Congress would also take on the issue of waste in federal agencies, though she was not ready to disclose details of her approach. “We will have reforms related to waste, fraud and abuse,” she said in an interview.
Other Congressional officials said House Democrats would consider a plan this week requiring a new audit of all federal agencies and mandating Congressional hearings whenever inspectors general identify potential waste or fraud.
Well, we have been down this road before. In fact, in 1984 the Grace Commission published 2,478 recommendations to save money. Since 1992, Citizens Against Government Waste has been publishing Prime Cuts, the definitive list of spending cut recommendations. The most recent Prime Cuts has 700 recommendations that could save $269 billion in one year and $1.9 trillion over five years.
Facing a $1 trillion deficit for 2009 and a massive stimulus bill, the time for talking is done. It is time for doing.
To be a real trend setter, the government should cut spending. Red (ink) has never been the hip color for any government.
