A Good Starting Point: STICK WITH WHAT WORKS!

A Good Starting Point: STICK WITH WHAT WORKS!  Even though we have a wonderful model of government here in America, one of its inherent weaknesses is its political turnover due to election cycles.  Every two or four years, we get a new bunch of geniuses up on Capitol Hill and/or in the White House that believe (A) everything that has occurred prior to their arrival is irrelevant and (B) they have the solution to every damn problem that currently exists in this nation.   Every new President wants to create the United States in their image and look fondly on Mt. Rushmore for a vacancy and a chisel.   In Congress, we rotate committee and sub-committee chairpersons in a ridiculous game of musical chairs to assuage egos and punish losers.  Time after time, we see new legislation being largely authored by committee members who come armed only with ideology and very little experience.  Presidential and patronage appointees at all levels of government begin their quests of management knowing that they have a limited time to work their magic and they certainly don’t intend to waste their time looking backward. 

As a retired civil servant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I saw firsthand how Congress simply loves to reinvent the wheel.  The use of acronyms in government agencies reaches comedic levels on occasion and one of the most hilarious actors in the cast was the USDA.  There were times when over the span of an 8-to-10 year period, we would see a program introduced, implemented, dismantled, and then reintroduced with very little substantive change…but…with a new name, new forms, and a familiar new promise of being the salvation of all that troubles those who till the soil..  Anyone who has lived through a few administrations and paid any attention whatsoever clearly understands that this same mentality rules the chief executive of our country, whoever that might be.   If you doubt how wasteful, expansive, duplicative, and downright chaotic this type of management is, simply consider the fact that America recently received a record level of tax revenue while at the same time continuing to balloon the federal deficit to near record levels.  The quest for the ultimate nanny state will undoubtedly bankrupt our nation if it is not rolled back and the day of reckoning is not far off.

Whatever the stripes, gender, political leanings, or dreams of our next presidential team turns out to be, I would hope that they would bring with them a simple philosophy: First; let’s find out what is working.  If each department, each agency, each field office could somehow begin with a simple, thorough, and objective review of the programs that are in place…BEFORE THEY CONTINUE PILING ON NEW ONES…we would all be amazed to discover that our government is doing some wonderful things and doing them in a fairly efficient and effective fashion.  Once we determine what is the wheat and what is the chaff, we can begin to eliminate that which is not working.  We can begin the process of having a serious discussion of what the proper role of government is in today’s world and start to prioritize the precious resource of tax revenue that our citizens yield through their blood, sweat, and tears. 

And just a point for all our royal newcomers to Congress and Pennsylvania Avenue: YOU are not the first, you will not be last, and there is very little new under the sun that hasn’t been tried before.  Respect your predecessors; respect the mistakes they made and try not to repeat them; give them credit for the good things they did and keep those wheels turning; pay attention to your hat size and if you see it increasing at an astronomical rate, consume some humble pie; and most important of all…never forget that you work for the people and serve at their pleasure…not the other way around.