Bureaucratic efficiency: Make each federal department MORTAL!

Obama Calls for Bipartisan Effort to Fight for U.S. Jobs
In his last State of the Union address, Mr. Obama emphasized the need for federal bureaucratic efficiency to improve American competitiveness. Bureaucratic efficiency is a repeat of his recent (January 18, 2011) editorial in the Wall Street Journal; his telling example of saccharin is classic inter-bureaucratic idiocy- one agency, FDA says it is OK to put it in your coffee, but another agency, the EPA, says it is hazardous. The White House can learn something from health care progressives: Provide desired outcomes, and base agency survival and funding priorities based on achieving these outcomes. Such efficiency can be fostered if the top 5 (may be 10, at best) goals of each federal agency (department) are listed on the opening page of each agency website, along with the corresponding agency budget. It will be very educational for us suckers (oops, taxpayers) to know whether our money is making a difference or not. For instance, the Department of Energy was established in 1973 primarily to decrease our dependency on foreign oil. However, while we imported about 28% of our oil needs in 1972, it is 55% today and expected to grow to 70% in another 25 years; in addition, by 2025, we will be importing 50% of our oil needs from the Middle East.”US Foreign Oil Dependency on Increase, say Experts. People (all of us, yes?) concerned with national security should take serious note of this growing dependency on foreign oil. Incidentally, out-come based analysis should give Department “haters” legitimate reasons to close them down. Yes, each Department must be mortal: Lesser the effectiveness, shorter the half-life.