Lesson Fourteen From Red Tape to Results:Creating ...

Lesson Fourteen From Red Tape to Results:Creating a Government that Works Better and Costs Less ^[1]

Public confidence in the federal government has never been lower.The average American believes we waste 48 cents of every tax dollar.Five of every six want“fundamental change”in Washington.Only 20 percent of Americans trust the federal government to do the right thing most of the time—down from 76 percent 30 years ago.

We all know why.Washington's failures are large and obvious.For a decade，the deficit has run out of control.The national debt now exceeds$4 trillion—$16，600 for every man，woman，and child in America.(https://www.daowen.com)

But the deficit is only the tip of the iceberg.Below the surface，Americans believe，lies enormous unseen waste.The Defense Department owns more than$40 billion in unnecessary supplies.The Internal Revenue Service struggles to collect billions in unpaid bills.A century after industry replaced farming as America's principal business，the Agriculture Department still operates more than 12，000 field service offices，an average of nearly 4 for every county in the nation—rural，urban，or suburban.The federal government seems unable to abandon the obsolete.It knows how to add，but not to subtract.

And yet，waste is not the only problem.The federal government is not simply broke;it is broken.Ineffective regulation of the financial industry brought us the savings and loan debacle.Ineffective education and training programs jeopardize our competitive edge.Ineffective welfare and housing programs undermine our families and cities.

To borrow the words of a recent Brookings Institution book，we suffer not only a budget deficit but a performance deficit.Indeed，public opinion experts argue that we are suffering the deepest crisis of faith in government in our lifetimes.In past crises—Watergate or the Vietnam War，for example—Americans doubted their leaders on moral or ideological grounds.They felt their government was deceiving them or failing to represent their values.Today's crisis is different:People simply feel that government doesn't work.

We have spent too much money for programs that don't work.It's time to make our government work for the people，learn to do more with less，and treat taxpayers like customers.President Clinton created the National Performance Review to do just that.In this report we make hundreds of recommendations for actions that，if implemented，will revolutionize the way the federal government does business.They will reduce waste，eliminate unneeded bureaucracy，improve service to taxpayers，and create a leaner but more productive government.We are determined to create a government that works better and costs less.