July 26, 2005

Does Federal Mean Forever?

The first I'd heard of the Government Reorganization and Program Performance Improvement Act of 2005 was in Cal Thomas' Townhall column yesterday. It's not the first time an idea like this has been floated in Congress, but that doesn't make it any less appealing this time around. The legislation would set up two new agencies:

The Sunset Commission would review the effectiveness of each federal program. Programs and agencies would automatically cease unless Congress took specific action to continue them. The Results Commission would work to uncover duplication of services in government programs, of which there are many.

The fact that such commissions are needed is an indication of the problem. Government programs are the only sign of eternal life on earth. Once they are created, they attract often-large constituencies that are ready to complain loudly about their "essential" services should anyone try to reduce their funding or, worse, end them altogether.

The administration that has shown no interest whatsoever in controlling federal spending for the past five years is behind this bill, according to Thomas. Let's hope so. Congress is likely to be about as excited about this legislation as they are about pushing for term limits. Here's some more detail from the OMB, and the endorsement of Citizens Against Government Waste.

Posted by dan at July 26, 2005 01:06 AM
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