I am a waste not, want not type of girl so learning about all of the waste in our government really frustrates me. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a non-partisan agency known as the "investigative arm of Congress" and their overall goal is "to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people".
The GAO has been investigating different arms of the government based on a push initiated from Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma to look into these overlapping agencies in order to cut spending (we are talking BILLIONS of dollars) and consolidate programs while the government is trying to cut the deficit. In fact, since the early 1990's the GAO has been making reccomendations about streamlining federal programs to help save money. The GAO found that several of them have overlapping programs which have similar goals, descriptions and beneficiaries. For example, there are 82 programs to improve teacher quality, 80 to help the disabled with transportation, 47 for job training and unemployment, and 56 to help people understand finances. It seems to me that these programs would be so much stronger and more effective if they combined their resources and knowledge.
A huge disadvantage of these types of systems is that their effectiveness can't really be tested, since there are so many of them. This system has also caused confusion in many areas. An example is a program that requires government programs to purchase plug in and hybrid vehicles to reduce energy consumption only to find that many gas stations don't sell alternative fuels. This has prompted these same agencies to ask for waivers to the requirement.
So how would these programs be streamlined? What goes into eliminating the unnecessary departments in order to better organize? The GAO investigated this issue, put the information all together in a report and advised Congress on their findings. The problems lies in the opposition from lawmakers thinking that the ideas might not put them in a favorable light politically. They don't want to put something out there that might hinder their future votes.
I am happy to learn about the GAO and it's efforts. Having an agency whose only concern is to hold the government accountable is so beneficial. I appreciate the fact that the GAO also offers suggestions to Congress, and doesn't just criticize their actions.
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ReplyDelete– - After reading “Streamlining Federal Programs” by Mora Guerra I learned something I knew very little about, The Government Accountability office. Mora shares my distaste of waste, especially in our National Government. I am glad such an agency exist, though while studying bureaucracy in chapter 13 I can imagine the process of cutting spending in overlapping agencies can be difficult and unwanted by the people who feel their job is necessary and should stick around. At first I disagreed with Mora’s opinion that programs to improve teacher quality should be consolidated in order to combine knowledge and recourses. I was worried the system of big agencies would not have the proper check and balances that many smaller programs could offer each other (much like how many fear “Big Government”). This was just at first glance though, after finishing the opinion piece and researching the agency on my own I found it easier to believe that one program for a specific area can really help out the country by saving money and time. The trick is going through all programs and tests each of their effectiveness. If GAO can continue to keep our country streamlined and cut the fat when needed I feel we all can benefit with robust programs that can give us the support and help we need. Mora did a thorough job providing good examples and also gave a clear and organized thought process.
ReplyDeleteP.s Go GAO!