So the weather hysteria in Washington, DC rages on as our local public schools today announced yet another day of closed schools this despite having five days of sun to prepare.  I lack the cognitive ability, I guess, to fully grasp the panic involved with falling precipitation, or the lack of willingness to simply plow and salt immediately following the storm.  Environmentalists in the area cry foul every time somebody tries to put salt on the roads, so instead they spread sand and dirt for traction.  Yes, sand and dirt, which then clogs our storm drains and causes problems that can then be fixed in the name of creating jobs.  By the way, doesn’t salt come from the Earth?  I digress.

This recent snow blast and the resulting government shut down begs so many questions.  Has anybody truly missed the services provided by the federal government?  And isn’t that what the ever-expanding federal government is intended to do, serve the public?  I’ve been led to believe by some political leaders that I need the government, and that it will solve my problems.  But as I shoveled the 50 or so inches of snow from my driveway, I can’t say that the unavailability of the Department of Labor really mattered to me.  I also didn’t particularly miss the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, or countless others to which I’m re-routing future college tuition savings to fund through my taxes.  Are these really just full employment agencies?  Or are they truly serving the public?  And why does the federal workforce continue to expand while the U.S. labor force shrinks and unemployment swells? Our deficits are approaching the tipping point, and our reliance on strategically unfriendly nations also continues to grow.

Perhaps a few answers, from one taxpayers perspective. 

First, salt the roads and open the schools.  I know I said I digressed, but I can’t get past this as my kids officially have bounced off of every wall in the house during their 12 consecutive days (and counting) at home. 

Second, if the President truly is serious about reigning in costs, he needs to really start examining the universe of federal agencies.  It has become the lazy and politically-friendly thing to do year after year for administrations to simply add a set percentage to the previous year agency budgets.  And any freezes in increases are touted as cuts.  Enough.  We need to start really auditing every agency and cutting not only office space but deadweight personnel.  The ability to fire a federal employee has become close to impossible due to employment criteria and fear of lawsuits. 

Third, every agency should be assessed for its services to the public.  Having worked in the federal government for nine years, I can assure anybody who reads this that countless dollars are spent on moving offices, meetings to nowhere, and other non public service activities.  During my time working for the U.S. Senate, I moved offices seven times.  And every time the Senate goes from Republican to Democrat, or vice versa, every committee office has to be moved.  This costs taxpayers millions of dollars.  These types of activities are unacceptable.   And when the costs of these things are challenged, the response is always in the grand scheme of things, a few million dollars is nothing.  Well, news alert, the grand scheme is collapsing and it’s time to get our house in order. 

Fourth, federal agencies should be funded by user fees.  For those who insist that government is the answer to public problems, you cannot possible disagree with this point.  Except for universal services, e.g., the military, there should be a direct benefit to users of the federal government and those same people should pay fees to get those services.  An example would be the Energy Information Administration.  This agency actually provides a statistical forecasting benefit to private energy industry.  Users love the information that EIA derives.  So why can’t it be privatized and paid for by subscription fees?  Or at the very least be funded by user fees?  Granted, law enforcement can’t follow this model, but to the extent possible we need to employ user fees.  Look at the U.S. Postal Service.  Its shrinking.  Why?  Because it was privatized and other innovative  methods for communicating, as well as competition by FedEx, UPS, and others, has reduced the need for the USPS.  But what if it was still a federal agency?  Would it ever get cut?  Or would it get bailed out to keep it alive?

Finally, the unemployment rate for the federal government should track the U.S. private sector.  Why should government be a safe haven during a recession?  It shouldn’t.  If unemployment rises to 10 percent, then so should the number of federal employees cut from the federal payrolls.  It’s only fair. 

In a post filled with questions, Ill leave you with one more.  If government closes and nobody really notices, shouldn’t we start asking whether we really need it? 

Ken has more than 13 years of legislative policy, legal, and communications experience. As General Counsel and head of Nahigian Strategies, LLC’s Legislative and Government Affairs practice, Ken provides an expertise on a wide range of issues pertaining to federal trade, consumer privacy and protection, transportation security, automotive safety, healthcare, and product safety.