Opinion: January 10, 2000
What is developing for the process, and a remedy for the problems presented by an extremely political process.
- As expected (see January 3, 2000 opinion) FY 2000 budget execution is being used as a backdrop for the FY 2001 budget review and posturing for the November election. The majority in Congress is getting ready to hold hearings to return people's focus to the "waste" issue - if the public's perception is that there is much "waste," the easier it is to support the case that the budget can be cut more (to provide for tax cuts, for example) without adverse consequences. Of course, no one could be against waste: "We know - every American knows - that the money is being wasted."* Who can argue with this certainty?
- I guess the President will have to defend programs if he wants his own policies to have any impact. Meanwhile, to make the point of what true waste is, the cutting of pork-barrel "non waste" provided by Congress is in process as part of implementing the 0.38% "across the board" cut imposed by Congress. We are headed for a replay of 1999. (For those interested in another face of waste, I recommend reading the series of current articles in the Washington Post dealing with waterway development projects. Waste is clearly a non-partisan industry. Its definition is in the eyes of the beholder.)
- And the remedy? What I stated last week: Make your
case using system requirements, i.e., have a good defense by having good
performance measures. It is difficult to make a political case that you are
"waste" when it is obvious to all that you know what you are doing and are doing
what people want you to do. Of course, this is easy to say. But there is help
this time, from the Congress (in the form of GAO):
- GAO's report Managing for Results: Strengthening Regulatory Agencies' Performance Management Practices (GAO/GGD-00-10) should be used as the guide for achieving sound performance measures. Its title is misleading; the report is actually a compendium of best practices GAO identified across many organizations for developing sound performance measures.
- I have outlined GAO's findings and recommendations for you to use.
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* House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, as quoted in the Washington Post Sunday, January 9, 2000, page A2.
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