Common sense budget recommendations

[scooterbug44]

While we argue about major cuts being made to programs we think are important, this group found places to cut based on redundancy. The estimates on how much we could easily save vary, but it's in the Billions.

Some of the line items are pretty basic/easy.

- a streamlined health care bureaucracy at the Pentagon could save up to $460 million a year

- consolidating the government's computer data centers (we have increased from 432 to more than 2,100 and some are being used less than 5%) could save the government as much as $200 billion over 10 years

- senseless duplication among military branches

- Dangerous lack of coordination regarding defenses against biological terror threats. At least five departments, eight agencies and more than two dozen presidential appointees oversee $6.48 billion related to bioterrorism. GAO writes: "There is no national plan to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts following a bioterror attack, and the United States lacks the technical and operational capabilities required for an adequate response."

- $1 trillion for special tax benefits, many of which are redundant. GAO writes: "For fiscal year 2009, the U.S. Department of the Treasury listed a total of 173 tax expenditures, some of which were the same magnitude or larger than related federal spending for some mission areas.

And my FAVORITE:
Financial literacy education offered by a government with a $14 trillion debt. Twenty agencies operate 56 programs dedicated to financial literacy but GAO and agencies can't estimate what they cost.

Government watchdog IDs billions in federal waste - Politics - More politics - msnbc.com

"Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services," the report says.

"We are spending trillions of dollars every year and nobody knows what we are doing," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who was the driving force behind the study. "We could save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars every year without cutting services. ... GAO has identified a mother lode of government waste and duplication that should keep Congress busy for the rest of the year."

In addition:

First Read - GAO: Duplication fighting terrorism, tax benefits, treating catfish

 

[Matt J]

- consolidating the government's computer data centers (we have increased from 432 to more than 2,100 and some are being used less than 5%) could save the government as much as $200 billion over 10 years

That sounds like a great idea and it sounds like massive waste, but the simply reason is expansion. A data center is a very highly controlled environment, you don't just knock down a wall when you need more space. Thus you have to pre-build what your going to need down the road.

From a security stand point it would be stupid to house everything together. Nothing like one target to bring the IRS, military, treasury, justice, and any number of other agencies to their knees with one well placed bomb.

Otherwise it would make sense to consolidate certain functions, worked for the State of Florida.

 

[scooterbug44]

That sounds like a great idea and it sounds like massive waste, but the simply reason is expansion. A data center is a very highly controlled environment, you don't just knock down a wall when you need more space. Thus you have to pre-build what your going to need down the road.

From a security stand point it would be stupid to house everything together. Nothing like one target to bring the IRS, military, treasury, justice, and any number of other agencies to their knees with one well placed bomb.

Otherwise it would make sense to consolidate certain functions, worked for the State of Florida.

Yes, there would probably still be more than 1,000, but those would be more efficient.

 

[Matt J]

Yes, there would probably still be more than 1,000, but those would be more efficient.

Honestly they'd be right back to building more data centers that for the time were virtually empty.

 

[scooterbug44]

I hear what you are saving, but making them more efficient, yet still having room for expansion can still equal $$ savings.

What I gathered from this report is that most of what the government is doing is in the most disorganized and inefficient way possible.

 

[Matt J]

I hear what you are saving, but making them more efficient, yet still having room for expansion can still equal $$ savings.

What I gathered from this report is that most of what the government is doing is in the most disorganized and inefficient way possible.

If you don't have a knowledge of IT management, then yes, it's a huge waste of money.