Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993 TAG: 9303050368
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASTE NOT
WRITING in Governing magazine in May 1991, Alan Ehrenhalt called government waste, fraud and abuse "the Loch Ness Monster of American politics."Politicians, he said, keep insisting they've seen it, and if given a chance, they will prove that it exists and do something about it. "The fact that they never produce much evidence of it after the election only seems to give the legend more credence."
But the problem often is less one of evidence than of definition. What's waste to us is someone else's treasured largess. Often, executives and lawmakers can't agree on which is which.
Undaunted, President Clinton and Vice President Gore are on the monster's trail now, and are inviting citizens and government employees (those who "work where the rubber meets the road," says Gore) to help them track down the elusive Nessie.
The six-month project, which Gore will head, follows the model of a Texas state audit that, in 1991, examined every aspect of state government and produced suggested savings in the billions.
Have you spotted waste, fraud or abuse in dealings with the feds? Have you got ideas for trimming spending, running a government program more efficiently or, at the least, making a federal agency more "customer friendly"?
Call one of several toll-free lines (set up by previous administrations for this very purpose, incidentally).
Or drop Al Gore a line at the White House. Mark your envelope "Reinventing Government." He promises all correspondence will get a response. (How will he have time for funerals?)
As noted, Clinton is not the first president to go after waste. In 1984, Ronald Reagan pursued the beast with a voluminous Grace commission report. It contained 2,478 recommendations that, it was claimed, would save $424 billion over three years. Congress balked at most of the recommendations; the few implemented were those the White House could do on its own.
President Carter ran into trouble in Congress when he tried to kill some water projects. Ditto Gerald Ford when he tried to cut subsidies for military commissaries. Etc.
Clinton says it's going to be different this time. This effort, he pledges, "will not produce another report just to gather dust in some warehouse" but historic steps to reform the federal government. He has, for instance, directed Cabinet officials to examine every program and to ask: Does it work? Does it waste taxpayers' dollars? Does it provide quality service? Does it encourage government innovation and reward hard work?
What seems clearly different is that Clinton - unlike Reagan - isn't going at the task with a show of utter disdain for all things governmental. He says he wants to make government more effective.
We've heard that before, too. But Clinton also believes his initiatives will fare better in Congress because the people (fired up by the likes of Ross Perot) are demanding reform.
He may be right. Americans surely hope he and Gore will return from their hunt with prey to show for it.