It now seems almost inevitable that, regardless of who is elected president and which politicla party controls Congress, federal spending and borrowing will have to increase substantially in the coming years. My guess is that a 25 percent real increase over current levels -- about $125 billion -- is coming.
The latest demonstration of why this is likely can be seen in a report from the Wall Street Journal on August 31 that continued underfunding of the Justice Department is seriously limiting the ability of U.S. attorneys to investigate and prosecute crimes. The key paragraphs:
In the past few years, U.S. attorneys' offices around the country have been unable to fill vacancies. Lawyers sometimes can't travel to interview witnesses. Even funds for basic office needs such as photocopying documents and obtaining deposition transcripts have been cut, according to current and former officials.
Department of Justice data show the impact. Prosecutions are down overall, with large drops in categories such as drugs, violent crime and white-collar offenses.
In the civil divisions of U.S. attorneys' offices -- which defend federal agencies and file lawsuits on behalf of the government -- the problem is actually costing Washington money, contends Kenneth Bauman, a recently retired veteran assistant U.S. attorney in Portland, Ore. Many offices have raised the bar for filing suit against people who owe the government money. Mr. Bauman and others say the government has settled suits against it for more than it would normally.
Department of Justice data show the impact. Prosecutions are down overall, with large drops in categories such as drugs, violent crime and white-collar offenses.
In the civil divisions of U.S. attorneys' offices -- which defend federal agencies and file lawsuits on behalf of the government -- the problem is actually costing Washington money, contends Kenneth Bauman, a recently retired veteran assistant U.S. attorney in Portland, Ore. Many offices have raised the bar for filing suit against people who owe the government money. Mr. Bauman and others say the government has settled suits against it for more than it would normally.
This is not an isolated situation; it is just the latest in what is has now become a steady series of examples of how budget cuts have made it impossibel for the federal government to conduct even its most basic functions. This includes the failures of FEMA leading up to and following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the inadequate care for soldiers returning form Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Centers for Disease Control admitting that it had no plan for deaing with the situation when an American returned from overseas with Tuberculosis, the Food and Drug Administration admitting it didn't have adequate resources to review both food and drugs, and the passport debacle that occurred this summer that forced the government to ease the rules it put in place to enhance homeland security.
Whate makes this distressing is that all of these -- emergency management, military healthacre, food and drug inspections, and homeland security, are among the most basic of all federal operations and the need for them to function at high levels is almost noncontroversial.
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Plus, despite much piety to
Plus, despite much piety to the contrary, the unwillingness of either party to moderate earmarking.
Good piece, not discussed
Good piece, not discussed enough: the politiciation of the departments undermines government effectiveness in some pretty serious areas.
This needs some basic editing (spelling).
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