The 9/11 Commission officially released its report today. One of the recommendations is that a new cabinet-level position be established for a Director of Intelligence.
That may not be a bad idea. What are they going to eliminate to form this new department?
You know the answer. The Federal Government grows. Always. Well, Clinton often spoke of reducing the size of the monster, and actually did. That is, if you count heads. The number of Federal employess declined at one point during his Presidency. Every department actually increased in size except one: the Department of Defense. Our military was depleted so that other departments could continue to grow while still reducing the total number of people employed.
That is the nature of our Government. It will continue to grow, and grow. No Department is ever eliminated. And every Department always feels it is short-handed. It is time for some lawmaker or President to stand up and say, “That’s enough.”
To be truly efficient, the Government needs to prioritize. When a new program is proposed, some other program must be eliminated to provide the manpower and budget for the new one. If there is nothing which is less important than the new proposal, then it fails. Period. Unfortunately, everything is the top priority in Washington. What that really means is that nothing is the top priority. Everything is equal. And everything is equal because each program is the most important in the world to someone.
But not the most important to the country. And that is the sad fact. Our “representatives” in Washington don’t look at what is best for the United States. You’ll hear them say they do, but their actions speak much louder if you’re listening. They are interested in what benefits them or their constituents. I can live with that. But I don’t want them trading things away to satisfy someone else’s constituents. Heresey, I know. But as soon as you are willing to trade your vote for someone else’s, you’ve bloated the bureaucracy and made every program the top priority.
I know that won’t change. And I know there isn’t a politician in Washington who would propose a bill to make things change by requiring a review of existing Departments or programs before approving a new one to replace one. Inertia in politics is huge. It has a very low velocity, but the mass is tremendous.
And the mass continues to grow.