AMERICA's GOVERNANCE CRISIS

 

NewsX Senior Consulting Editor Vineet Malhotra sat down with Scot Faulkner who served as the Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives and as Director of Personnel for 40th US President Ronald Raegan for a fireside chat on what the mood in South Asia is, vis a vis, the change in administration in the United States. Responding to a question on the heated discussion between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Friday, Faulkner revealed that the last time something like this happened in public eye was back in 1619 when the defenestrations happened in Prague, which eventually started the 30-year-war. Excerpts:

Q: Do you think this (Zelenskyy-Trump-Vance exchange) was the first interaction of its sort ever to happen in the Oval Office or anywhere in the world?

A: I was doing some history research before this, anticipating the question. In 1619, in Prague, the defenestration of the Holy Roman Emperors, Catholic delegation. They were thrown out of a third-floor window and it started the 30-years-war. So that seems to be the last time there was a this high profile meltdown for a diplomatic mission. So, it’s been quite a while, and that one wasn’t on CNN. It’s just absolutely stunning. My phone started blowing up last night, and I have friends on both sides of the aisle. And you can imagine one side says it’s Zelenskyy’s fault. The other side says it’s Trump’s fault. And everyone’s sort of throwing eggs and rotten tomatoes at each other.

Q: Do you think it was about time that somebody called out Zelenskyy for what’s happening?

A: Well, that’s an interesting question because what they are saying is that a deal was cut and that this was only was supposed to been sort of like a protocol meeting in preparation for the signing of the document deal with mineral rights. And then they were going to go into a press conference, and Zelenskyy decided to up the ante and sort of reopen the negotiations on the fly. Some of the people are saying that Zelenskyy was so used to working with Biden and his national security staff, which to this day, is still probably the weakest and most incompetent in the American history. And he wasn’t ready to encounter the buzzsaw of Trump. And then to, as one person put it, with Trump and Vance, there was ‘bad cop, worse cop’ (instead of bad cop, good cop). And so, Zelenskyy probably lost his cool when he shouldn’t have. But both sides sort of up the ante. And it’s sad because only two people benefit from it: Russia – because they hope that they can retain all their ill-gotten gains of territory and maybe force Ukraine to never be a NATO (member). And then China that’s sitting there saying, well, if this happens on Ukraine, maybe we ought to test our waters, literally, our waters around Taiwan. So, it was not one of the better moments for American history or world history or for in the future, Ukraine.

Q: You gave me a lot of interesting insights into what governments do and what governments emote and project in order to run efficiently. And you spoke about the 3Ts. Could you share that philosophy and that idea with our audience as well.

A: When you start to think of governance, we’re not just talking about elections and who gets elected and who represents who. We’re talking about the actual operations and mechanics of how a government operates, how it serves its citizenry. And you kind of harken back to basically Rousseau in the 18th century about the social contract that, you know, we all came here either by bus or car because we don’t build. We don’t build our own cars. So we, we voluntarily, hire a car or buy a car. So we have a transactional contract with that manufacturer. The same thing goes in government. None of us are going to sit there and build the roads that drive that car. We’re willing to, through a toll or gas tax or something, delegate to government building the roads. We delegate to government, the police and the signage on those roads. And so the social contract for government at every level: from national to federal to local, is that the citizens that it serves willingly delegate and willingly pay for certain basic services that we’re not going to do ourselves. And so transaction is a very fundamental thing because government needs to be able to make the value proposition that we can do certain things better than individuals because of collective action and economies of scale.

Then we’re into trust: the second T. We trust that government is going to do the right thing. Just like we all had a lunch break, we assume that the food we ate was not going to kill us, give us food poisoning. So there’s a certain trust level that comes with that social contract. And then finally to establish that that trust is real and is actually justified, we have transparency. Public processes should be public; public documents should be public; public meetings should be public and public decisions should be public. And you put a little asterisk for we don’t need to know the nuclear codes or some secret weapon being built or who the spies are. But overall, public things should be public. What’s happened in America and this goes back 30+ years, is that both Republicans and Democrats are to blame. Those three Ts have been destroyed, and that’s what led to last year’s election where America’s faith in government, in that social contract has completely collapsed because governments have been lying to them. And we’re finding that over the years, we basically have a government filled with aging, egotistical, greedy and corrupt people who have been lining their pockets. And this is where the DOJ’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) comes in. Peeling back the onion to see the waste, the fraud and abuse and the fact that we’re about to have the full files of the Epstein. We’re going to have the trial on PD. So we’re not only looking at corruption, we’re looking at perversion to a very sordid level. And so Americans today have little faith in government, little faith in the media that covers government, little faith in the academia that studies government and this is probably the worst crisis in governance in American history.

We had our Civil War, but that wasn’t about governance; it was about very fundamental issues on freedom and sectional competition. To this day, 77 percent of Americans are for what Musk is doing in terms of what we call draining the swamp and starting to expose all this waste. But the basics of governance that holds America together are right now in play, and we’ll see how it plays out.

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HOW CONGRESS CAN HELP DOGE

 

Published on Newsmax Congress Desperately Needs DOGE-Focused Hearings | Newsmax.com

Congress can assure the success of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by fulfilling its Constitutional duty to oversee the Executive Branch.

The House’s DOGE Subcommittee, Chaired by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, can act as a “Grand Jury”.  The Subcommittee can become a key forum for informing the public of existing waste, fraud, and abuse, building the nonpartisan case for cutting budgets and eliminating programs.  This existing information would be delivered by Inspector Generals who are tasked with performing objective reviews of the finances and operations of the Executive Branch.

The first hearing could review the Defense Department (DOD) failing its 7^th financial audit.

The recent independent financial audit documented that the DOD could not account for $824 billion.

The DOGE Subcommittee could simply have the accountants reveal what they found over the seven years of failed audits.  The Inspector General witnesses will not be hostile.  They will be eager to report their findings in the hopes that tangible reforms might finally be made.

DOGE-focused hearings will be an historic opportunity to bring fundamental and lasting change to the Federal Government.

Over the years, most Congressional Oversight Hearings were contentious as they convened to embarrass the Executive Branch.  Witnesses were hostile and refused to answer questions, obfuscated their answers, and outright lied.  Members ended up talking far more than the witnesses to make their case to counter the bogus testimony.

DOGE-focused hearings will be different. 

Witnesses from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the 73 Inspector General Offices could review the last ten years of their findings.  Each year they collectively report over $650 billion in ongoing waste and provide recommended actions. 

Few of their recommendations were implemented.

What great media moments could occur if credible, nonpartisan, professionals were allowed to present their findings. They would explain how the Executive Branch has squandered $6.5 trillion over the last ten years.  They would list unimplemented reforms, which could form the roadmap of eliminating countless programs and offices.

Waste is not partisan.  No one wants public funds misspent.   

The work of the DOGE Subcommittee could be bolstered by real oversight hearings as part of the Appropriation process.

Congress can control the Executive Branch through its Constitutional power of the purse.  What is funded exists and grows, what isn’t funded shrinks or vanishes.  

Appropriations Committees are mandated to meet and build the case for spending public funds.  Administration witnesses make their case for spending.  Appropriation Committee Members make their alternative case. What should occur is a dialogue designed to align Congressional intent, and Executive Branch actions, to public spending.  What should emerge is legislation with properly vetted financials.  Supporting these numbers should be the hearing record that builds a compelling case for how and why public funds should or shouldn’t be spent.

This rarely happens in Congress.  The result is Congress abdicating its spending control and destabilizing the Constitutional balance between coequal Branches.

There has been a steady decline in incorporating Congressional oversight into the Appropriation process. In 2015, there were 128 House Appropriation hearings prior to marking-up funding legislation. In 2024, there were only 71.  House Appropriators heard from only three of the 73 Inspector Generals.  No one from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was involved.   The handful of “public” witnesses represented Washington-based stakeholder organizations.  No one from oversight groups documenting government waste and abuse were invited to testify.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Appropriation hearings lasted three or more hours.  Hearings in 2024 averaged less than two hours.  In most cases, only the Department/Agency Head testified.

On average only three to five Members of Congress attend these hearings; even though all Subcommittees have at least eleven Members (Defense has sixteen).

There were 43 Senate Appropriation hearings in 2024.  Three Inspector Generals appeared, and there was no witnesses from the GAO or government watchdog groups.

Reversing these trends will be a critical part of establishing DOGE-focused hearings.

Senate and House Authorizing Committees could also help build the case for DOGE reforms by holding their own series of oversight hearings featuring testimony from the Inspector Generals under their respective jurisdictions along with the GAO. 

DOGE-focused hearings with House/Senate Oversight, Appropriations, Authorization Committees could form an echo-chamber of evidence building a compelling nonpartisan case for reducing the size of the Executive Branch and its cost.

The findings of these DOGE-focused hearings will make it easier to pass legislation to eliminate programs, offices, and agencies.  It will also make the case for dramatically reducing the budgets and personnel of obsolete and ineffective Executive Branch activities.

Americans deserve cost-effective government.  DOGE-focused hearings will return Congress to its Constitutional role and responsibility.

DOGE vs FEDERAL LEVIATHAN

 

[Published on Newsmax]

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is igniting widespread support for a long overdue assault on bloated and obsolete Executive Branch programs and agencies.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are applying advanced thinking and technology to eradicate unauthorized programs, “zombie” accounts”, and reclaim unexpended funds.  Their use of artificial or enhanced intelligence will reveal patterns of waste, fraud and abuse by mining years of Inspector General Reports and fraud hotline complaints. This pattern analysis will drive abolition, consolidation, and downsizing.

Finding the right court case and venue for overturning the unconstitutional Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (Public law 93-344) will be integral to reining in wanton spending.

Citizen Oversight: BUDGET BATTLES

DOGE can build a national movement, and internal government network, to fundamentally change the Federal Government’s mindset and culture for decades to come.  DOGE is posed to have more impact on America’s domestic policy than any other initiative since the 1960s Great Society.

A NATIONAL MOVEMENT

DOGE is the framework.  “War on Waste” (WOW) could be their battle cry. 

Everyone has stories of federal government waste, fraud, and abuse (WFA).  Finding federal waste is like “hunting cows”.  It is everywhere and obvious.

DOGE could ask Americans to “blow the whistle” on WFA.  An online form would identify the program, WFA evidence, and estimated cost.  Everyone who submits a credible WFA case would earn a digital “Waste Warrior” (WW) badge to proudly display.  Best WFA submissions, and the WW heroes who found them, could be featured each month, maybe on the DOGE podcast.  DOGE, WOW, WW, WFA merchandise could become cultural icons.

Grassroots WOW clubs and online communities could further embolden Americans to expose waste nationwide.  These could partner with existing government reform groups like Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and Open the Books.

THE INSIDERS

DOGE needs to work through allies within the Executive Branch to find additional WFA and to implement tangible and lasting change.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should be the central command center for implementing DOGE recommendations.   The appointment of Russell Vought is a terrific first step.  He will need to build a team within OMB to be fully effective.

Trump should reconstitute Ronald Reagan’s “Cabinet Council on Management and Administration” (CCMA) to drive DOGE reforms through the Executive Branch.  Reagan’s Counselor, Ed Meese, used the CCMA to hold agencies accountable for meeting domestic policy goals, cutting costs, and reducing personnel.  Each Cabinet Department and major agency had a full-time CCMA liaison to make sure these goals were met.

Insider whistleblowers are increasingly stepping forward.  They need to become the network to aid DOGE and identify additional WWs throughout the Executive Branch.

Another pro-DOGE network are career employees who have received graduate credits, degrees, and certificates from conservative academic institutions.  The Institute of World Politics (IWP), founded in 1990 by Reagan National Security officials, has seeded the defense and intelligence agencies with their graduates, all ready to make America strong again.  Since 2010, Hillsdale College’s Washington, DC campus has offered degrees in government to early and mid-career government employees.  Hillsdale College has been a bulwark of constitutional conservatism since 1844.

Trump’s non-career appointees, DOGE advisors, CCMA liaisons, and career allies need to make sure they quickly achieve full knowledge of Executive Branch operations.  The entrenched bureaucracy will fight reform with all resources at their disposal, which are substantial. 

One proven method is “management by walking around”.  It is amazing what can be exposed, and stopped, using this basic approach.  Early in the Reagan Administration, a political appointee visited ACTION’s loading dock.  They discovered crates of the book “Rules for Radicals” by Leftist Saul Alinsky being readied for distribution to community organizations across the nation. The shipment was stopped and the books either returned to the publisher or destroyed.

In another instance, a government warehouse manager asserted he needed to buy twelve additional forklifts to meet the tighter response time for shipping supplies.  A political appointee did a surprise inspection finding twenty inactive forklifts because there were not enough certified operators.  The manager was immediately fired.

Insiders can review contracts.  Outsiders must file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that will be slow-walked by the bureaucracy. 

Most federal contracts are poorly written and ineptly managed. This is intentional, as kick-backs and crony capitalism rule the day.  In one bizarre case, the General Services Administration (GSA) signed a multi-million contract to renovate the eighth-floor utility rooms at their headquarters.  An audit revealed the building only had seven floors. The contracting officer certified the fictious work was done, money was paid and split with the contractor. The contracting officer and contractor went to jail. 

Whether we love a program or hate it, we want every penny spent honestly, ethically, and effectively. 

DOGE could be the bi-partisan crusade that unites all Americans.

MUSK vs FEDERAL LEVIATHAN

 

[Published in the Sunday Guardian of India and Newsmax]

The United States (U.S.) must confront Federal Government spending.  U.S. national debt is now $35.7 trillion USD.  This is larger than the country’s $29 trillion USD Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Paying interest on the debt now exceeds $658 billion USD a year.  This debt service is becoming an increasingly large part of annual spending for the Federal Government.

Reducing the size and cost of government is a major priority for former President, Donald Trump.

He is promoting Elon Musk’s plan to find and cut trillions of dollars in Federal Government waste.

Musk will only succeed if he moves boldly and learns from the past.  His current plan to build a bureaucracy to fight bureaucracy will end in frustration.

The Federal bureaucracy has fended off countless similar efforts.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan established something similar to Musk’s proposed effort.  The Grace Commission was charged with identifying and eradicating waste. Reagan first used the phrase, “Drain the Swamp” as part of the Commission’s mission.

Businessman, J. Peter Grace, formed the President’s Private Sector Survey for Cost Control (PPSSCC) as a separate organization funded by private sources. Over 150 prominent business leaders volunteered their time as overseers and members of the PPSSCC Task Forces. Its 36 task forces generated 2,478 recommendations that identified $424 billion USD ($1,243 billion in 2024 value) to be saved in three years. Congress ignored them all. 

Earlier government waste initiatives include the 1974-76 Commission on Federal Paperwork.  It was designed to assess paperwork burdens and implement the Paperwork Reduction Act.  The Commission employed hundreds of people to review government forms and processes.

This was my first job in Washington, DC.  As a graduate student at American University, I was a management analyst for the Housing Task Force.  One of my most surreal findings was a 36 foot (12 meter) long flow chart for applying to build government subsidized housing. The report’s 800 recommendations were issued and vanished.  Very few of the recommendations were implemented.

Vice President Al Gore led the “National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR)” initiative under President Bill Clinton.  It intended “to make the federal government work better, cost less, and get results Americans care about". During its five years, it was a catalyst for several operational changes, including the elimination of over 100 programs, the use of performance measurements, and expanding technology.

However, it promised savings of $207 billion USD never materialized.

There are other ways to rein in government waste.  They just haven’t been used.

Every year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and 73 Department and Agency based Inspector General Offices issue reports.  Annually they uncover over $650 billion USD in waste.   These reports include recommended actions.  Virtually none of them are implemented.

One example: Improper payments (payments that are made incorrectly) cost the U.S. over $200 billion USD a year. The GAO estimates that the U.S. government has lost almost $2.4 trillion USD in simple payment errors over the last two decades.  No action has been taken.

Every year outsiders expose government waste.

Senator Rand Paul issues his Annual “Festivus Report” each December.  It focuses on dubious grants and contracts.  His 2023 report revealed the U.S. government paid $900 billion for worthless research, fraudulent claims, and subsidies to domestic millionaires and foreign tyrants. Some of his specific findings included: an National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill, Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds, $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and $200 million to ‘struggling artists’ like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne.

Dr. Rand Paul Releases 2023 ‘Festivus’ Report on Government Waste - Senator Rand Paul

Senator James Lanford issues his “Federal Fumbles Report” that highlights laughable waste.

Federal Fumbles - Senator James Lankford

Citizens Against Government Waste’s annual “Pig Book” illuminates questionable earmarks (now called Congressionally Directed Spending).

2024 Congressional Pig Book | Citizens Against Government Waste

The challenge is not finding the waste, but actually doing something about it.

There are steps that should be taken.

Step One – Clean House 

The U.S. Government’s Executive Branch includes mostly career personnel. They are selected through a competitive application process.  Once past a probationary period they can only be removed for cause. 

However, there are thousands of Executive Branch personnel who hold “policy positions” and are not eligible for career status protection.  These individuals are appointed by the President and his Office of Presidential Personnel (OPP).  They are “at will” employees and may be removed at any time for any reason.  The listing of these policy positions is known as the “Plum Book”.  It lists around 8,000 personnel that have limited or no career protection. 

As Director of Personnel for the Reagan Campaign and Transition, I looked at organizational charts for all career personnel who directly reported to policy officials or worked in policy offices.  There were also hundreds of agency and programmatic advisory boards and committees with their own support staff.  All of these people, upwards of 50,000, can be transferred or reassigned to clear operational pathways.

Only the Reagan Transition of 1980-81 completely cleared the policy and operational pathways.  This allowed the “Reagan Revolution” to move rapidly on a broad front to fundamentally change U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

An incoming Presidential Administration usually asks for the resignations from every political appointee from the prior administration.  However, some do not comply.  Other “holdovers” find career positions.  Some create consulting arrangements to remain on the public payroll.

The Executive Branch is awash with contractors. Many of them owe their allegiance to prior administrations. All have a vested interest in garnering more money for themselves.  A detailed review of these contracts and contractors can empty out large swaths of those loyal to the “status quo”.  Many of these contracts may be poorly written and administered.  Some may have no real value.  Ending these contracts will save billions.

Step Two – Take Control

A new President is like a ship’s captain.  They stand on the ship’s bridge to control its course.  In reality, this “captain” initially has no control beyond the bridge.  The size and complexity of the Federal Government hampers any change of course.  Too many activities have lives of their own, managed by individuals who are wedded to the “status quo”.

A new President needs to insert “Change Teams”, professionals skilled and committed to making the new Administration an immediate operational reality, into all Cabinet Departments and major agencies to instantly end the previous era.  This means full control of every key decision.  This covers all legal, regulatory, procurement, personnel, grants, and expenditures.

Nothing should happen until signed off by the Change Teams. 

Locking everything down also means revoking all delegations of authority and forcing every action, communication, and policy into the hands of the Change Teams immediately.  The Change Teams must literally patrol the corridors and rattle doorknobs to make sure no one is extending the actions of the prior era.  The first few days of Reagan’s Presidency found numerous examples of career employees refusing to yield.  In one case, a grant administrator had to be physically stopped from approving $350,000 USD of Carter era grants still sitting on his desk.

Bringing in new people who are loyal and competent is vital.  So is finding and promoting their career counterparts.  Whistleblowers exposed many problems during the Biden-Harris Administration.  They should become key advisors for identifying career allies and ferreting out resistance.

Both Republican and Democrat political appointees complain that their career colleagues often hide, spin, or fake facts.  This is not partisan.  Careerists want to protect their power, turf, reputation, and pet projects.  In many cases, careerists go through the motions of supporting the new Administration without doing anything.  Discovering and thwarting “Malicious Compliance” is a major challenge. This even happens within the Office of the President as this organization is filled with career employees. 

The transition planning process needs to start identifying trusted colleagues ASAP.  These may be whistleblowers who will embrace change, and confidential sources who have already proven themselves credible to Congress and media allies.  This first wave of trusted professionals identifies those they trust, and so on, until there is a critical mass to substantively shift policy and operational direction throughout the Executive Branch.

Step Three – Follow the Money

Approximately $1.028 trillion USD remains unexpended among general accounts and $461 billion USD remains unspent in trust funds.  While these funds are technically obligated, the fact that they have languished for years raises questions about their use and management.  These funds can be reclaimed and reused.

Look for the accounting code “1941” on federal agency accounts.  This code is for “unexpired unobligated balances”.  Another database is expired grant accounts. The GAO uncovered 7,500 just in Department of Health & Human Services’ Payment Management System.  Thousands of lapsed grant accounts are briming with money that will never be used but can be reclaimed.

The late Senator, Tom Coburn, exposed these funds in a detailed report, “Money for Nothing”. Nothing was done.  The U.S. media ignored his findings.

Microsoft Word - MONEY FOR NOTHING June 6 - final

Another code is the “Current Services Budget”, or “Baseline” budget. This outlines how much it costs to maintain existing services at current levels. It factors in various cost drivers - cost of living increases, escalation clauses in contracts, etc. Funding above “Current Service” is a spending increase.  This is a built in “ratchet effect” to expanding government.

Step Four – Eliminate Programs

Congress is the headwaters of expanding government.  Every year new programs, entities, and reporting requirements are established.  Members from both parties jealously guard their progeny.

Reviewing which ones are obsolete and duplicative may shame some in Congress to let them fade away.  Some may have lost their protection as their creator has left Congress. It took years for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process to eliminate obsolete facilities.

Abolition opportunities abound for those programs directly created by the Executive Branch.  These have no basis in law but are created under the concept of “management by news release”. One day stories that result in never ending wasteful activity.  Other programs are training projects to promote specific ideological ends, such as climate change, critical race theory, and transgender awareness.

Eliminating whole Agencies and Departments requires more courage than exists in Congress. 

Step Five – Reduce Personnel

Instituting a real hiring freeze will rapidly drop numbers through retirements and “churn” (people leaving government to take nongovernment jobs).  Special exemptions will be required as specific vacancies for performing real tasks arise.  These waivers should only be granted by the Change Teams. Do not conduct mass firings or “Reduction in Force” (RIFs).  This triggers an array of procedural impediments and legal actions.

Reagan’s General Services Administration (GSA) cut nearly two thirds of its workforce in three years using a hiring freeze without a RIF. No legal action occurred.

Congress establishes programs and organizations, but rarely details how they are staffed or managed.  This is the best opportunity to delayer, reduce, and consolidate.

The private sector has found that 2-5 layers of management are more than adequate to assure success. Corporate performance “dashboards”, knowledge management, and empowering/enabling front line workers led to abolishing the antiquated concepts of span of control, pecking order, and fiefdoms.  It is time for the Federal Government to join the 21^st Century and eliminate up to 23 layers of obsolete command & control supervisors, countless numbers of extraneous planning staffs, and unnecessary program overseers. 

Americans deserve value from every dollar spent. 

They rarely receive even $0.12 USD of value per $1.00 USD. 

Many dollars spent generate no value at all.

It is long overdue to fight Federal Government waste and win.

 

GERALD CARMEN - LEGACY OF A LEADER

 

In March 1980, President Ronald Reagan asked Jerry Carmen to lead the General Services Administration (the GSA).

At the time the GSA was the Federal Government’s most corrupt and wasteful agency. 

Jerry’s mission, direct from President Reagan, was to clean-up the GSA or shut it down. 

Three years later the GSA had dropped from 36,000 employees to 12,000, thanks to the most thorough hiring freeze instituted under Reagan.

The GSA’s duplicative offices and obsolete operations were gone.

In its place was the best run Federal Agency in 1984. 

Jerry saved tens of billions of taxpayer dollars.

This is how bad it got. 

An employee cabal orchestrated an insider contract scam to renovate the 8^th Floor Utility Rooms at the GSA Headquarters Building.

It wasn’t until they requested a contract extension that people remembered the GSA Headquarters only had seven floors.

Jerry created a secure “war room” where we placed the entire GSA organization on its walls.

We then rolled plastic sheets over the personnel charts.  Using grease pencils, we “x-ed” out offices and operations that were flagged by Inspector General Reports and Whistle Blowers, marking them for extinction.  

Once personnel actions were recorded, we erased the notations.

When Leftist Congresswoman, Pat Schroeder, demanded our work files we were able to honestly say there were none.

Jerry was “laser focused” on his mission.

A Union official met with Jerry to protest the hiring freeze.

A few minutes into the meeting, Jerry picked up the bowl of Jelly Belly candy on his desk and began picking out and eating the red ones.

The Union official noticed this and commented, “You really like those red ones.  What makes them so special?”

Jerry answered, “The meeting is over when the red ones are gone”.

Jerry’s main achievement was creating a business-based culture grounded in honesty and integrity.

The Director of the Springfield Supply Depot called Jerry declaring that he needed to buy 12 additional forklifts to meet the new work deadlines.

Jerry immediately drove himself to the Depot.  He rushed past the guards and raced through the warehouse counting twenty idle forklifts. 

The Director was immediately removed from his position and fired within the week.

Jerry embodied the commitment to excellence, the courage of convictions, and the bravery of a true leader. 

Jerry’s accomplishments, and how he accomplished them, will inspire generations to come.

DERAILING THE MONEY GRAB

 

[NOTE:  On August 17, the plan of out-of-state billionaires to build an oversized hotel in the heart of the Harpers Ferry Historic District hit a wall.  The Jefferson County Commission set aside a $30 million taxpayer subsidy (tax increment financing - TIF) to this private equity firm as local residents raised major concerns. Since 2008, the billionaires asserted that their project was fully funded.  Since then, they have sought subsidies and grants, along with waivers from taxes and fees.]

JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSION

HILLTOP TIF HEARING - Scot Faulkner Remarks

There are several issues you need to consider before giving up to $30 million to a private equity company.

First, this will be the only hotel to receive a government subsidy from this Commission.

You are creating a dangerous precedent.

Government should not pick winners and losers in the private sector.

What prevents existing or future hotels demanding subsidies from Jefferson County Taxpayers?

Second, you are ignoring the facts.

When SWaN first arrived in Harpers Ferry, they promised to shower riches on the community.

Instead, SWaN has been given waivers from the taxes and fees they promised to pay.

SWaN has also been given federal grants and now is asking for $30 million from County Taxpayers.

During the last 15 years, SWaN has not provided or promised even one dollar of proffers to the town.

Another fact – the justification for the $30 million, and all the other waivers and subsidies, is that the SWaN hotel will save Harpers Ferry.  Somehow, Harpers Ferry will become a ghost town without the oversized SWaN hotel.

Since the closing of the old Hill Top House in March 2008, Harpers Ferry has experienced a tripling of visitors.  The town is packed with tourists, especially on weekends.

Over the last ten years, every major travel magazine, website, and rating has named Harpers Ferry the top tourist town in America. 

All of this is happening without an oversized government subsidized hotel.

Third, all citizens of Jefferson County deserve to vote on whether $30 million of their money should go to a private interest in the smallest municipality.

Jefferson County voters have voted on smaller bond issues, including the $19 million school bond in 2016. At least school bonds benefit everyone, not a small group of private investors.

This Commission has one vacancy.  It cannot speak for the entire population.

Let the people speak instead.  This should go to a public referendum.

 

TRUMP's FALTERING REVOLUTION

Also published on Newsmax.  #DEEPSWAMP  #RINOgator

President Trump made draining Washington’s Swamp the centerpiece of his Presidency.  The swamp is winning.  Its RINOgators are on the verge of destroying the Trump Presidency. 

Trump’s Executive Branch is now running on empty.  His appointment process is the slowest since Jimmy Carter in 1977.  He recently defended his depleted ranks of loyalists, “we don’t need all of the people. You know, it’s called cost saving.”  In fact, Trump not bringing in his loyalists means the Executive Branch is being run by Obama holdovers, and senior careerists, who run the government from acting positions.  They owe their last eight years of promotions and bonuses to their loyally enforcing and implementing Obama’s policies.

The swamp is exploiting Trump’s misunderstanding of “people equal policy”. 

The few political managers Trump has placed are completely isolated and outmaneuvered. Worse, most of Trump’s appointments are people who owe their loyalty to everyone but Trump.  The inner circles of the White House, and legions of political operatives in the Departments and Agencies, wish Jeb Bush was President.  Their disloyalty to Trump is manifest in leaks and their ineffectual and slow paced efforts to change anything.

Insiders explain that Trump dislikes people with government experience and that he feels Reagan and his appointees could have done more to shrink government.  If that is so, why is he fixated on bringing in Bush alumni who grew government? 

Trump declared that he would drain Washington’s swamp by not hiring lobbyists.  During the transition, countless personnel clearance forms were used supposedly to prevent lobbyists insinuating themselves. This failed.  USA Today reports that more than 100 former federal lobbyists are now working inside the Trump Administration.

Trump has been ill-served and misled from the very beginning.  During the Spring of 2016, key elements of the Reagan coalition, including Reagan Administration alumni and key think tanks, were ready, willing, and able to help Trump be successful.  They were ignored.

In June 2016, Trump realized he needed to prepare for being President.  Instead of turning to those conservatives who were openly and passionately supporting him, Trump turned to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  Where Trump conservatives would have opened the door to legions of proven change agents, Christie opened the flood gates to Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush operatives.  Where Trump loyalists would have worked for free, Christie spent millions on hiring the Boston Consulting Group to run the Transition.  The Boston Consulting Group had never run a Presidential Transition, but the Managing Partner in charge of the contract was the daughter of longtime Bush loyalist.

The Trump Transition ended-up preparing for the Romney/Bush Administration.  Even Steve Bannon was duped into believing only the Washington Establishment was capable of helping Trump prepare for his Presidency.  Highly capable conservatives, Reagan alumni, and professionals who were for Trump since June 2015, were systematically shut out.  Never-Trumpers, even ones who ran anti-Trump floor operations at the Republican National Convention, were welcomed.

The Romney/Bush Transition became the Romney/Bush Administration on January 20, 2017. At the same time, Reince Priebus and his minions from the Republican National Committee (RNC) took over core White House operations.  This included the Office of Presidential Personnel that clears and recommends all political appointees.  Priebus rightly deserves credit for quelling Republican rebellion in the final months of the 2016 campaign.  For this, Trump should have rewarded Preibus with the non-critical Ambassadorship of his choice.  Instead, Priebus became Chief of Staff and proceeded to fill Trump’s inner circle with RNC operatives, few of whom even liked Trump.  The RNC operatives in charge of Presidential Personnel placed their friends on Trump’s political front line.  They even conducted purges of the few Trump loyalists who had made it inside.  Ironically, Never-Trumpers got away with accusing Always-Trumpers of being disloyal.

While President Trump was signing Executive Orders and making inspiring speeches, the RINOgators of the Washington, DC swamp were commandeering key positions, making sure Trump’s vision would never become a lasting operational reality.  They are doing everything possible to protect their swamp.

The most tragic result of Trump being misled is that he is spending his time on actions that will be swept away with the next Administration.  The Washington swamp is drawing Trump into this trap.  Time magazine recently ran an alarmist cover story on Trump’s regulatory reductions.  Even Trump’s inner circle believes the hype. His communications director declared, “No President or Administration has deregulated or withdrawn as many anticipated regulatory actions as this one in this short amount of time.”  In reality, saving $560 million is a pittance against the $2+ trillion regulatory burden faced by America business.

At best, stopping new regulations is like trimming Kudzu.  All these bad policies and regulations have only been driven underground.  They remain in desk drawers and computer files ready to be unleashed. Unless the underlying policies, people, and laws are changed, all these sidelined regulations will spring forth the moment Trump leaves office. The people who would actually pull-up the regulatory Kudzu by its roots are not in place.  Washington, DC’s “RINOgators” have settled in to protect their status quo and wait out Trump.

Real and lasting change will happen only if Trump appoints sufficient numbers of his actual loyalists as soon as possible. He must act quickly and decisively to remove Bush/Romney traitors and replace them with those fully committed to his revolution.  Perhaps the dual attacks by Bush 41 and 43 will open Trump’s eyes to the treachery around him.

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]

RINOgator UNBOUND

#TRUMPING  #RINOgator #DEEPSWAMP

Congressional Republicans are compiling an historic record of failure. Even though they control the Legislative Branch, they have not passed anything meaningful, cannot confirm Trump’s appointments, and refuse to reopen investigations into the last eight years of Democrat corruption and collusion with America’s enemies.  They remain stupefied and inert while Democrats and their media allies create fake scandals designed to disembowel Trump and his inner circle.

A growing number of Americans are asking, “Do these Republicans want Trump to fail?” Congressional Republicans do not comprehend the danger facing them.  If things continue as they are, Americans in 2018 will toss out Congressional Republicans for gross incompetence. 

If they lose power, Republicans will have difficulty convincing the voters that they ever deserve a return to power.

It is time to reacquaint ourselves with the denizens of the Deep Swamp who are undermining President Trump and America from both ends of Pennsylvanian Avenue…

A very dangerous species is loose in Washington, DC.  If it’s not eradicated it will bring ruin to Trump’s Administration and the nation.

RINOgator is a subspecies of fake Republicans (as in Republican In Name Only) that lives in the Swamp of our nation’s Capital.   The Swamp is its natural habitat, filled with conflicts of interest, incestuous relationships, avoidance of accountability, hiding documents and information from the public; waste, fraud, and abuse. 

RINOgators’ role in life is to expand the Swamp and to destroy anyone who tries to drain it. Any reduction in the Swamp reduces their numbers and threatens the species.

RINOgators eat tax dollars and absorb energy from reform minded humans. They have insatiable appetites and are never full.  There is always one more meal to eat.

RINOgators are highly territorial.  They relentlessly defend their turf among Congressional Committees and special interests. It is far more important to maintain their turf than for anything to be accomplished.

RINOgators live in close-knit family units.  One generation promotes the next through education, internships, sinecures, and contracts.  There is constant intermingling and intermarriage with other RINOgator family units. 

RINOgators can also be highly incestuous. They will give awards, place media stories, hire, and promote family members at every opportunity.  Multi-generational RINOgator family units hold more territory and become impervious to elections.

RINOgators may migrate to corporate, academic, and media positions, to promote the Swamp, but will always return to their native Swamp.

RINOgators are pernicious.  They use their knowledge of the Swamp to convince their prey that they are necessary.  Their prey willingly appoints them to office, listens to their advice, and invites them into their inner circles. Like cowbirds, RINOgators lay their eggs in the nests of reformers, setting the stage for their young to devour the souls of competing species.

RINOgators have a distinct call, which is heard on cable news, in policy forums, and reported in the mainstream media.  Its call is for maintaining the status quo, no matter what.  Lesser calls are for “further study”, new programs, new legislation, and more funding.  Squawks of alarm are heard whenever reformers call for accountability, transparency, “running government like a business”, “doing more with less”, privatization, and cutbacks.  Squawks are usually accompanied by assertions of “we are unique”, “it cannot be done”, and various lies about how THE PROCESS “actually” works.

RINOgators have an array of formidable defenses.  Their most effective is delay. Their other defense mechanisms include the ability to erase memory, dismiss facts, and divert attention so reformers pursue only irrelevant or tactical issues.

RINOgators are chameleons.  They adopt the rhetoric of their enemies to better blend in until the right moment to strike. 

The Trump era has become a major threat to the RINOgators and their Swamp.  The RINOgators did not see Trump as a threat until he had entered their territory. 

That is why the RINOgators have forged elaborate family groupings, nesting on Capitol Hill, to thwart Trump initiatives.  RINOgators chose not to attack the past foibles of Obama and Hillary.  They think it is better having Democrats on the offense against Trump instead of on the defense.

RINOgators have the innate ability to rebound after being stunned.  That is why, after being surprised by Trump winning the nomination, they insinuated themselves into Trump’s transition planning, transition team, and Administration.  Legions of RINOgators wrote Trump Transition briefing books and developed personnel “vetting” processes that slowed the staffing of Trump’s Administration to a crawl. They adjusted selection criteria to favor Swamp preservationists and surrounded incoming Trump Executives with them, instead of Swamp drainers.

RINOgator eradication efforts have been sporadic and only partially successful.  The main barrier to eradication is convincing people RINOgators exist. Their chameleon defenses allow them to avoid detection.  RINOgators and their allies have the unique talent of reflecting problems and disappointments back onto Trump.  This reflective surface is a key part of the RINOgator’s outer armor.

Thankfully, RINOgators have weaknesses.  They are susceptible to sunshine when light is shown on their true selves.  They are too smug, leading them to make wrong assumptions about the American people.

The RINOgator eradication program must begin with Americans unmasking the species and ripping away its reflective surfaces.  RINOgators are especially vulnerable during primaries. 

Trump and the nation must track down and wipe-out the RINOgator, before it is too late. 

This is critical to draining the Swamp.

[Scot Faulkner helps global corporations flatten their organizations; achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  During the Reagan Administration he served on the White House Staff, and in Executive Appointments.]