Budget Bacchanal

This column was published in Politico
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/the-summer-budget-bacchanal-95811.html?hp=r13

While most people are enjoying vacations, government agencies and their contractors are spending your tax dollars faster than ever.

That’s right — it’s peak shopping season for the U.S. federal government. Despite automatic budget cuts known as “sequestration,” the fourth quarter of the fiscal year remains the time for Uncle Sam’s annual spending spree. Why is that? Because over the course of July, August and September, agencies must spend the balance of their fiscal year budgets or suffer having their requests for budget increases being second-guessed by the Office of Management and Budget and the appropriating committees in Congress.

And spend they do. Each year around this time, potential savings evaporate in an orgy of expedited procurements and other spending during the mad dash to spend every penny before midnight on Oct. 1. No celebrations of frugality here; agencies would rather guard their budgetary turf than save money for taxpayers.

Each year, on average, executive branch departments and agencies spend only two-thirds of their discretionary money by June 30, the end of the third fiscal quarter. By the fourth quarter, there’s pent-up demand and a rush to spend. One-third of government spending typically happens in the fourth quarter. (In fiscal 2011, the peak was less dramatic. At the start of the fourth quarter, the federal procurement system had spent approximately 70 percent of its contracting dollars.)

The OMB provides program-specific fund tracking to federal executives around mid-July on what is left to spend. Agency officials view this OMB tracking report on “use or lose” spending as the “starting gun” for wanton expenditures of dubious value.

The government’s contractor accounting system, Deltek, also sends out fourth-quarter program and agency-specific opportunities to the vendor community. Government contractors, with long-term service arrangements, known as Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity, make beelines to their agency contracting officers to discuss immediate ramping up of expenditures. It is one of the dirty little secrets of how Washington really operates.

This year, some private firms started the fourth-quarter spending promotion in June, conducting business outreach sessions. One of their fliers heralds, “Once again federal spending has been delayed until the 4th quarter” and asks, “Do the agency people know you and your company?”

The flier [http://govconectx.com/June_13_Outreach.html] provides a list of participating agencies, “with more being added every day!” In this season of accelerated spending, there is something for everybody, except American taxpayers.

Imagine if Washington’s incentives mirrored the real world, where saving money still means something. Imagine if Congress passed a fourth-quarter spending restriction that mandated agencies spend only 25 percent of their budget in the fourth quarter.

To calculate the potential savings, let’s use the 33 percent average in fourth-quarter spending occurring across the executive branch. The 8 percent difference would save $104.8 billion in the next three months.

That amount in savings is larger than the $71.4 billion sequestration cuts for FY 2013. The key difference is that, instead of draconian across-the-board cuts, this amount is fully focused on last-minute arbitrary spending. These last-minute buys are for things agencies have lived without for the entire fiscal year. This is not spending to keep our military planes flying or national parks open; it’s money spent on optional conferences and nonessential services. The GSA and IRS conferences that attracted so much recent concern were part of previous year-end spending bonanzas.

Such waste provides another reason to curtail this long-standing budget bacchanal. Agency officials will scream, while American taxpayers will breathe a sigh of relief.

Scot Faulkner is former chief administrative officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rules of Engagement

by Scot Faulkner and Jonathan Riehl

IRS, Associated Press, Benghazi - It has been a sad month for America. The Nixonian turn of the Obama Administration has threatened basic liberties and trust, while the turn down the rabbit hole of the Congressional Republicans has undermined basic roles and responsibilities of the Legislative Branch.

Holding power accountable is a vital and fundamental part of America’s civic culture. The First Amendment’s protections for free speech, and Article I of the Constitution outlining Congress’s powers and responsibility to protect the use of public funds, are pillars that hold our government and society together. Recent actions by both the Executive and Legislative Branches raise alarm.

As President Truman famously declared, “the buck stops here” at the President’s desk. No matter how much President Obama declares his innocence; no matter how much the President asserts he only learned about every problem from watching the news; he is responsible for the actions of the Executive Branch. Intimidation of citizens and the media, violations of privacy, violations of law, and covering-up facts are ultimately the fault of the person who sets the tone, and governs, the Executive Branch. If subordinates were “rogue”, then find out who and find out why. No second or third level functionary wakes-up one morning and decides to create national policy without receiving orders or telling others. To maintain otherwise insults the intelligence of all Americans. The alternative is an admission of gross negligence and incompetence emanating from the Oval Office.

The role of Congress is to use its oversight powers and responsibilities to expose and address illegal, unethical, and unseemly acts of federal officials. This oversight role has been an integral part of Congress since President George Washington. It is the key element of balancing powers among the three branches of the federal government.

Oversight is about truth seeking. When Congress uses this power to create fantasy instead of fact it disserves the institution and the public. The egregious performances by Executive Branch officials have unfortunately been equaled by over-the-top rhetoric and drama by Members of Congress. There is a fundamental problem with the rhetorical strategy of the GOP, and it is evident in these recent hearings. When there are failures in the functioning of government, it is up to Congress to investigate and call them to account. In these recent matters at State, Justice, and the IRS, the duty is obvious. It’s how the House majority has gone about it that is so problematic.

This is especially disappointing because Republicans have a strong record on oversight. In recent history, nothing stands out more than the Watergate hearings, to which many allusions have been made.

In 1973, the wrongdoings of the Nixon administration were brought to light by responsible, bipartisan hearings in which we heard memorable lines from the likes of GOP Senator Howard Baker, asking calmly, “What did the President know, and when did he know it?” The stakes were high. The modesty of the questioning allowed for the public to come to its own conclusions. The facts drove the investigation. Chairing the hearings was Democratic Senator Sam Ervin, of North Carolina. While there was certainly shrill demonizing of Nixon and the Republicans by liberals, this rancor was shut-out of the Ervin Hearings.

Republican leaders in Congress have their hands full. When Chairman Issa, and other “adults”, hold sway, the tone of the hearings hearken to the Ervin hearings. However, less seasoned Republicans on these committees, and those speaking on the House Floor, drown out the search for truth with “truther” style rhetoric. No matter how much some Republicans hate Obama, their best strategy is to let the petulance of Executive Branch witnesses drill holes in the Administration’s boat. When Republicans use their interrogation time to spout conspiracy theories instead of fact finding they divert attention from Obama onto themselves. They also waste precious time. They should be asking questions designed to peel back the “onion layers” to expose the rot. There will be plenty of time to assail the Obama Administration, once the facts, or the lies, are in hand.

The poor performance of both interrogators and interrogatees continue Washington, DC’s downward spiral into hyper-partisanship and perpetual campaigning. Every utterance seems aimed at producing the next soundbite for partisan pundits or campaign ads. Congressional hearings should enlighten and build trust, not become a fodder for comedians where the Members are mouthing their own punch lines.

Scot Faulkner served in the Reagan White House and as Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. Jonathan Riehl, J.D., Ph.D., is a communications consultant for political campaigns and national nonprofit organizations, a former speechwriter for Luntz Research, and an instructor in Communications Studies.

Shakespeare and the Republican Party

[Guest Contributor - Donald G. Mutersbaugh, Sr.]

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's [Read the Republican Party’s] but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury

Signifying nothing.”

— Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28) [Modified, with apologies]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_and_tomorrow_and_tomorrow

Undoubtedly, this is one of Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquies. What I didn't realize, however, is that apparently there was a Republican Party in the 1600’s! Or so it would seem. The other day when I was rereading some of the works of Shakespeare, I found this passage from Macbeth; and for some reason the Republican Party jumped into my brain. Putting the academic interpretation aside, I thought to myself: what a perfect quote to describe the Republican Party in today's Congress. There is no focus. There is no leadership. It just seems that there are elected officials calling for this hearing or that hearing; getting in front of cameras and railing about what an inept and corrupt Administration we have; complaining about budget deficits and spending; the litany goes on and on. And yet when all is said and done, the people who have the ability to put an end to these disgraceful events are absent or unaccounted for. They are able to bluster and talk a good game; but where are the action events that will actually lead to accountability? Why can't we put those who are responsible under oath and give them the questions that are necessary to find out what really happened?

The only thing good that may come out of all of the recent, cascading revelations of misdeeds is that the mainstream media seems to be finally getting engaged. I suspect it took an event like the Associated Press fiasco to make them realize that this Administration was wielding the sword of Damocles. Conservative groups have long had this imminent sense of foreboding and actual peril. USA Today reports: “Other than press reports, we have no knowledge of any attempt by the Justice Department to seek phone records of the AP," Carney said."We are not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations, as those matters are handled independently by the Justice Department."…. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are seeking to tie the three incidents together.”

What? The Republican Party cannot even handle one incident by itself; and they're going to tie the three incidents together? USA Today continues:

“The AP also reported that the government would not say why it sought the phone records:

"Officials have previously said in public testimony that the U.S. attorney in Washington is conducting a criminal investigation into who may have provided information contained in a May 7, 2012, AP story about a foiled terror plot. The story disclosed details of a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al-Qaeda plot in the spring of 2012 to detonate a bomb on an airplane bound for the United States.””

Well, there's another tough nut to crack. I wonder what the results of that investigation are going to yield?

I have not been able to determine why the Republican Party continues to give this Administration a pass on all the tough questions that should be asked. Is it because of satisficing? Or, is it because of bounded rationality? Or, maybe it is because of rational ignorance? It certainly isn't because of optimal decision-making because when all is said and done, concerned citizens are still waiting for answers and actions.

I would suggest that Congress should focus its efforts into a logical, goal directed outcome. What happened; why is it important; what is the truth and what are the conclusions; and what am I going to do about it? All of this should be known about each event before anybody goes to the media. What are the desired ends?

May I suggest a methodology to be employed: praxeology.

“Praxeology in turn is a subset of Human Action. It is the examination of all those theories that propose general attributes of non-instinctive action. The most basic theory that is at the root of all praxeological inquiry is this: Every non-instinctive action is the selection of more over less preferable means and their subsequent application to attain a deliberately chosen end.”

http://www.economicsjunkie.com/praxeology/

“Praxeology is the deductive study of human action based on the action axiom. [Wikipedia]

An action axiom is an axiom that embodies a criterion for recommending action. Action axioms are of the form "If a condition holds, then the following should be done". [Wikipedia]

An axiom, or postulate, is a premise or starting point of reasoning. As classically conceived, an axiom is a premise so evident as to be accepted as true without controversy.” [Wikipedia]

“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin Franklin knew what he was talking about….

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Donald G. Mutersbaugh, Sr. earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland and his Master of Business Administration degree from Mary Washington College. He is the former Associate Administrator of Information Resources for the U.S House of Representatives under Speaker Newt Gingrich.