Thursday, March 10, 2011

What Does $3.7 Trillion Buy?

With the government borrowing 40 cents of every dollar spent, a rational person might think it is time to cut back a bit on the spending like most households, corporations and state and local governments have done over the past several years.  Our illustrious Congressmen cannot even figure out how to reduce spending by 1%.  The first place I would start looking at  is frivolous and wasteful spending as well as duplication of programs.  Can you identify any duplication or redundancy in the list of agencies?  Or any agencies that are no longer needed or seem frivolous or trivial?  Or any businesses that the government shouldn't be in?  I bet you can without too much difficulty.  Why can't our Congressmen and the Administration do the same thing?

Below, how Big Government handles money:
·  Commerce Department ·  Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States · Commodity Futures Trading Commission ·  Comptroller of the Currency Office ·  Council of Economic Advisers ·  Department of the Treasury ·  Disability Employment Policy Office · Economic Adjustment Office ·  Economic Analysis, Bureau of ·  Economic Development Administration ·  Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ·  Economic Research Service ·  Economics & Statistics Administration ·  Engraving and Printing, Bureau of ·  Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity ·  Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board ·  Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council ·  Federal Financing Bank ·  Federal Reserve System·  Financial Management Service (Treasury Department) ·  Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission·  Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, National Commission ·  Government Printing Office (GPO) · Government National Mortgage Association ·  Mint (Treasury Department) ·  National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform ·  National Credit Union Administration · National Economic Council ·  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ·  Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ·  Small Business Administration (SBA) ·  Taxpayer Advocacy Panel ·  U.S. International Trade Commission ·  U.S. Trade and Development Agency ·  U.S. Trade Representative
And “health”:
·  Administration on Aging (AoA) ·  Administration on Developmental Disabilities ·  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) ·  Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry · Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee ·  Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion ·  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ·  Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ·  Civilian Radioactive Waste Management ·  Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled ·  Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ·  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ·  Health Resources and Services Administration ·  Indian Health Service ·  National AIDS Policy Office ·  National Council on Disability ·  National Institutes of Health (NIH) ·  Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) ·  Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ·  Rehabilitation Services Administration (Education Department) ·  Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
And “Education”:
And energy:
And your food:
And your retirement:
And “science”:
And the border:
And this … this is how Big Government attempts to make everything better:
·  Arctic Research Commission ·  Appalachian Regional Commission ·  Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) ·  Chief Acquisition Officers Council · Chief Financial Officers Council ·  Chief Human Capital Officers Council ·  Chief Information Officers Council ·  Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee ·  Commission of Fine Arts · Commission on International Religious Freedom ·  Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements ·  Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) ·  Community Planning and Development ·  Corporation for National and Community Service · Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention ·  Council on Environmental Quality ·  Delaware River Basin Commission ·  Denali Commission ·  Domestic Policy Council ·  Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ·  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ·  English Language Acquisition Office ·  Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) ·  Federal Consulting Group ·  Federal Executive Boards ·  Federal Geographic Data Committee ·  Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight ·  Federal Housing Finance Board ·  Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds ·  Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer ·  Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service ·  Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board ·  Foreign Agricultural Service ·  General Services Administration (GSA) ·  Indian Arts and Crafts Board ·  Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Commission ·  Innovation and Improvement Office ·  Institute of Peace ·  Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group ·  Inter-American Foundation ·  Interagency Council on Homelessness ·  Japan-United States Friendship Commission ·  Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries ·  Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies ·  Joint Fire Science Program ·  Legal Services Corporation ·  Marine Mammal Commission ·  Merit Systems Protection Board · Millennium Challenge Corporation ·  Minority Business Development Agency ·  Mississippi River Commission ·  Morris K. Udall Foundation: Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy ·  Multifamily Housing Office ·  National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ·  National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ·  National Mediation Board ·  National Technical Information Service ·  National Telecommunications and Information Administration · Northwest Power Planning Council ·  Office of Compliance ·  Office of Government Ethics · Office of Personnel Management ·  Office of Thrift Supervision ·  Open World Leadership Center·  Overseas Private Investment Corporation ·  Peace Corps ·  Presidio Trust ·  Regulatory Information Service Center ·  Rural Business and Cooperative Programs ·  Rural Development · Rural Housing Service ·  Rural Utilities Service ·  Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation ·  Southeastern Power Administration ·  Southwestern Power Administration · Stennis Center for Public Service ·  State Justice Institute ·  Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement ·  Susquehanna River Basin Commission ·  TRICARE Management ·  Trustee Program (Justice Department) ·  Western Area Power Administration ·  White House Commission on Presidential Scholars ·  Women’s Bureau (Labor Department)

1 comment:

  1. Duplication is interesting. I've thought about it and I don't see the incentives to eliminate it.
    In the private sector for example I've sat on my front porch and watched the mailman and two newspapers along with the FedEx guy and UPS make deliveries using, by the way, gasoline etc. and I've wondered would there be a way of eliminating a lot of this duplication of effort - centralized location etc. Maybe its been eliminated already to the extent it can be.
    In the school system every school has a library, the county has all kinds of branches, and the community college has a library. Again, a lot of duplication.
    In the internet arena in a similar undertaking it is my understanding that we dodged a bullet early on in that pioneers recognized the need for uniform standards for the world wide web. Otherwise all machines couldn't participate 100%. There was an economic incentive to get it right and maybe this saved the day.
    In the government there is tremendous duplication but there is no incentive to eliminate it. We tend to have commissions, comprised of very smart people but it never does the job.

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