Let's take a Meat Axe to the Budget

There is a lot of angst about the deficit and there should be - it is a very serious problem that could bring this nation to its knees.  We must cut our spending and the good news is that both Democrats and Republicans are finally saying pretty much the same thing.  We are still miles apart in how to deal with the issue, but we are finally engaged in dealing with it.  The very hard part is now before us - Where to cut, and by how much, and for how long.  As we approach these tough choices a plethora of formulas will emerge.  This program will be cut by 10%, that one by 14%, the other one by 7%.....  This cut for four years, that one for three years, the other one for two years...  If the economy improves by 3% every year for two years we will...

It is going to be impossible for the average citizen to know in detail what is happening, why it is happening, and for how long it will continue to happen.  We are going to have to trust the folks that we elected to get it right.  (A commentary about how important our vote is in an era when some folks feel that they have no say in government.)  No matter the formula that is arrived at, we can be assured that we will feel it.  The numbers are just too big for that not to happen.  It is also inevitable that we will be dissatisfied with the formula because it will certainly be "unfair" to one or another group of people. 

I favor what most people consider to be the least attractive formula out there.  Were it to be chosen, the New York Times would immediately label it a draconian "Meat Axe" approach.  I favor having the best and the brightest economists decide on the best number and time line for a single cut that would be applied across the board to our entire budget .  No exceptions and that includes aid to the poor, education, defense, public safety, entitlements, and absolutely everything else.  Economists are pretty good at macro economics, but they are not very good at running a government program.  Neither are elected officials.  The folks who understand their programs the best are the folks actually in charge of them.  Let them deal with the cuts rather than have an outsider tell them that they need to buy fewer pencils next year.  I still cringe when I think that an elected official who has never seen a battlefield up close and personal thinks that he is smart enough to tell the Army what kind of tank they will need ten years out.

This will not be a perfect solution.  There will be severe problems and they will need to be dealt with as they come to light, but my guess is that one heck of a lot of fat will be burned out of the system at all levels before that happens.  An administrator facing a reduced budget will cut the nonessential faster and more intelligently than any committee in Washington will ever do. (In fact, we should cut that committee's budget too.)  Everybody talks about waste and fraud in our governmental programs.  The most intelligent and effective way to deal with those problems is with the meat axe, not the scalpel (metaphors, not actual tools to be used). 

If those in charge of our programs can not make the transition to a lower budget we must immediately replace them without prejudice.  They are probably not bad people - they just can not handle the job that needs to be done.  We, of course, need to tell them up front that we will do that.  Some will say that is being awfully hard on the bureaucrats.  My answer is that managing the people's business is a hard job that needs to be done and done right.