Government Pruning
The General Accounting Office has taken a look at how the federal government sells and exchanges our public land — mainly through the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service — and discovered — surprise, surprise! — extraordinary malfeasance. One example was the government selling some 70 acres of our property for $763,000 to an individual who turned around and sold it the same day for $4.6 million. Now if that isn’t out-’n-out fraud, it’s downright incompetence, and those who did it and approved it should be tossed off the federal payroll and lose their pensions.
Similarly, we should shed from the federal employee rolls those who approve new contracts with companies that have previously been prosecuted or sued for defrauding the government. According to an AP report, hundreds of companies that have ripped us off are back again doing business with Uncle Sam. Hello, is there so little competition out there for federal dollars that we can’t find companies that have not already been taken to court for cheating us? What other criteria would you use to reduce the field of bidders, other than crooks who took you once?
Folks, there’s something outta whack here. It’s bad enough that we get things wrong and it costs billions of dollars, and sometimes peoples’ lives, but to make obvious mistakes in the face of the most urgent of warnings borders on demonic. Like the federal forestry officials who against every reason possible lit a fire that burned up a billion of our tax dollars, and destroyed or disrupted thousands of lives. What ever happened to the notion of public service as in service?
I have stood four-square on the path to smaller government. Step one, computerize everything. Create a data base that knows everything the government is supposed to know about people and put it in a place where everyone can find it. As in criminal records, so people over-seeing children don’t grant a day-care license to a child-molester. And people running away from child support can’t hide by crossing state lines. And don’t give me a lotta bosh about personal privacy. I’ve got a social security card, a driver’s license, a pilot’s license, and a concealed weapons permit; I would hardly worry about a national identity card.
Step two, replace everyone getting paid for unskilled clerical work or manual labor with people on welfare or doing prison time for non-violent offenses. When they get on their feet or have done their time, send them out on their own and fill their shoes with others whose bills we’re paying. Why should we be subsidizing the room and board of people without requiring that they contribute back to the common weal?
Step three, reduce top federal salaries to $100,000. I haven’t seen but a few souls in all of federal government who are worth even that. Especially in Congress, where they just voted themselves another raise.
Step four, eliminate all public press spokesman roles. Too many officials and politicians hide behind their flacks, and we’re paying for the armor. We need more direct contact with the decision-makers. The press shouldn’t be reporting to us from press releases.
Those four simple steps could reduce the annual budget by $200 billion in just three years, while making us more of a nation again.
And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.