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POTUS pushes for streamlined government
POTUS pushes for streamlined government
By Steve Benen
As the White House explained this morning, there are currently six major federal departments or agencies that focus on business and/or trade: the U.S. Department of Commerce’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
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With that in mind, President Obama unveiled a new effort this morning to streamline government and merge all of these entities into one department, reducing the bureaucracy and saving money.
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This is the kind of initiative that should be right up Republicans’ alley, right? The kind of effort they’d applaud enthusiastically? Well, no, at least not yet.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office also used the opportunity to complain about “presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history” — a claim that’s largely imaginary — even when Obama is trying to eliminate redundancies.
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http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/potus_pushes_for_streamlined_g034747.php
By Steve Benen
As the White House explained this morning, there are currently six major federal departments or agencies that focus on business and/or trade: the U.S. Department of Commerce’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
<...>
With that in mind, President Obama unveiled a new effort this morning to streamline government and merge all of these entities into one department, reducing the bureaucracy and saving money.
President Obama asked Congress on Friday for the power to consolidate parts of the federal government, proposing a first step of merging several trade- and commerce-related agencies under a plan that the White House said could eliminate more than 1,000 jobs and save $3 billion over 10 years.
Obama said he would focus initially on entities that deal with small business, but ultimately would like to get rid of inefficiencies throughout the federal government. He noted to an audience of small business leaders that the bureaucracy included five different entities involved in housing, and more than a dozen agencies that regulate food safety.
“No business or non-profit leader would allow this kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations,” Obama said. “…So why is it okay in our government? It’s not. It has to change.”
Obama said he would focus initially on entities that deal with small business, but ultimately would like to get rid of inefficiencies throughout the federal government. He noted to an audience of small business leaders that the bureaucracy included five different entities involved in housing, and more than a dozen agencies that regulate food safety.
“No business or non-profit leader would allow this kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations,” Obama said. “…So why is it okay in our government? It’s not. It has to change.”
<...>
This is the kind of initiative that should be right up Republicans’ alley, right? The kind of effort they’d applaud enthusiastically? Well, no, at least not yet.
Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, sends over a lukewarm response to President Obama’s proposal to consolidate Commerce Department agencies. “Given the President’s record of growing government, we’re interested to learn whether this proposal represents actual relief for American businesses or just the appearance of it,” Buck said. “…We hope the President isn’t simply proposing new packaging for the same burdensome approach. However, eliminating duplicative programs and making the federal government more simple, streamlined, and business-friendly is always an idea worth exploring. We look forward to hearing more about his proposal.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office also used the opportunity to complain about “presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history” — a claim that’s largely imaginary — even when Obama is trying to eliminate redundancies.
- more -
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/potus_pushes_for_streamlined_g034747.php
Looks like Republicans are being backed into a corner.
Obama Puts His Stamp on Strategy for a Leaner Military
WASHINGTON — President Obama has for the first time put his own stamp on an all-encompassing American military policy by turning from the grinding ground wars that he inherited from the Bush administration and refocusing on what he described as a smaller, more agile force across Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East.
In an unusual appearance at the Pentagon briefing room on Thursday, Mr. Obama outlined a new national defense strategy driven by three realities: the winding down of a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a fiscal crisis demanding hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon budget cuts and a rising threat from China and Iran.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/us/obama-at-pentagon-to-outline-cuts-and-strategic-shifts.html?_r=1
WASHINGTON — President Obama has for the first time put his own stamp on an all-encompassing American military policy by turning from the grinding ground wars that he inherited from the Bush administration and refocusing on what he described as a smaller, more agile force across Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East.
In an unusual appearance at the Pentagon briefing room on Thursday, Mr. Obama outlined a new national defense strategy driven by three realities: the winding down of a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a fiscal crisis demanding hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon budget cuts and a rising threat from China and Iran.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/us/obama-at-pentagon-to-outline-cuts-and-strategic-shifts.html?_r=1
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