While many in DC are crying into their beers or measuring the windows of their new offices, POGO has a different take on the election. We have been hearing a lot of talk from both Democrats and Republicans characterizing "oversight" as a dangerous weapon in the wake of the election. But from our perspective, both sides need to take a different tack.
The Democrats need to stop demonizing oversight as something to fear, and the incoming Republican committee chairs and leadership ought to focus on investigating substantive problems with an eye toward finding solutions to benefit the public interest—rather than gunning for the 2012 elections.
Oversight has clearly been a watchword since the election results streamed in last Tuesday. Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, has called for “rock solid oversight of the executive branch, which is a constitutional responsibility of the Congress.” Republican Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia’s 22-point plan as the likely new majority leader has called for more oversight by individual lawmakers.
All of this is music to POGO’s ears, assuming the oversight is serious inquires into significant areas, with a good faith effort at bi-partisanship.
Of course, some of the Democrat’s fears and Republican’s embrace of oversight are natural reactions. As James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" and our constitutional system of checks and balances was designed to harness these counteracting ambitions. However, congressional oversight of the executive is diluted when members of Congress approach it as political partisans rather than as part of an institution that is responsible for improving the government.
That means congressional Democrats should not be out to protect the administration at any cost and should participate in explorations of wrongdoing, waste, mismanagement or incompetence in the executive branch--even though Republicans may chair their committees. It also means congressional Republicans should not be out to destroy the administration--political witch hunts are usually transparent and end up backfiring.
Everyone should keep in mind that underneath the executive branch’s political layer are men and women in uniform who’ve sworn their lives to protect us, scientists who strive to make sure patients are not harmed by drugs or medical devices, auditors who try to protect taxpayer money from going to waste, and others whose job is to serve the public interest. Sabotaging the administration for political gain can sabotage the critical missions these public servants strive to achieve.
But it’s important to realize that while sometimes the problems lie with the political appointees, in other instances aspects of the permanent bureaucracy are the problem. What that means is responsible congressional oversight could lead to strange bedfellows. Imagine Tea Partiers working with Obama’s political appointees to get rid of corrupt government managers who retaliate against whistleblowers.
At the end of the day, oversight should lead to a better functioning government that better serves the citizenry. On that note, we were heartened when California Republican Darrell Issa, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said, “I want to prove the pundits wrong. My job is not to bring down the president. My job is to make the president a success.”
There is a smorgasbord of real issues in need of greater oversight that can help make the government a success. Just for starters, POGO would like to see the new Congress investigate:
- The shadow government, which includes the legions of contractors who perform tasks many think should be performed by government employees and so-called Self-Regulatory Organizations like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA);
- Effectiveness and scientific integrity in the FDA’s drug, medical device, and food safety regimes;
- The General Service Administration’s perverse incentives to charge other government agencies more for contract services;
- Troubled multi-billion dollar weapons programs, such as the Joint Strike Fighter; and
- Ethical lapses at the Bureau of Land Management, which is responsible for one-eighth of America’s landmass and the mineral resources that lie underneath.
There’s no lack of scandal in each of these areas, but more importantly, oversight can do a lot of good for the American people, especially if it leads to improvements.
Improving government ethics rules and enforcement, strengthening inspectors generals and other watchdogs, protecting whistleblowers, increasing transparency, and reducing conflicts of interest are just a handful of broad reforms that both sides of the political coin can agree on.
Congress can do some needed reforms of the ways it does business as well. More earmark reform, transparency in deliberations, less partisan procedural maneuvering, and more disclosure of member schedules could help Congress become more accountable to constituents. Congress should lead by example in oversight and accountability.
One thing that didn’t change on November 2—and hasn’t changed in 15 election cycles—is POGO’s passion for investigations, oversight, and reform. As the dust settles on the election and Washington girds for gridlock, we’ll keep working with the whistleblowers, lawmakers, and government officials interested in getting some good stuff done.
-- Nick Schwellenbach, Angela Canterbury and Danielle Brian
Not only are you not outraged, you are calling for more oversight of contractors, which means apparently you think having 85% of the military as non-combatants, most of whom are already useless accessories in expensive government building, is not enough. You seriously want to take that message to the American people? Yes, America, you are not taxed enough. You need to hire some more government drones to watch those you've already hired to watch those you've already hired, or those contractors are going to continue to rob you blind. That's what you want your message to be?
When are you going to wake up to the fact that there is an inherit conflict of interest in the way the government does business? Why is it such a mystery to you that when the government pays a contractor more to screw up and drag things out, the contractor will screw up and drag things out and no amount of oversight will stop that. In fact, having more bureaucrats to watch the contractor screw us only encourages them to screw us. The bureaucrats don't want to lose their jobs either, so the longer the contractor drags things out, the longer the bureaucrats have jobs, the more they encourage the contractor to screw up. So who are you doing the favor for?
Why not fix this problem at the source? Why not take the position that our federal government should reform the way it handles procurement? They didn't always do business the way they do today. They once, not so long ago, did business in a much more efficient way. They provided incentives for the contractors to perform better instead of worse, and when they couldn't provide that kind of incentive, they socialized the service.
Ooooh, there's that bad word, socialized. Yeah, it's really a bad thing. Remember when Werner Von Braun used to design rockets for NASA back in the 1960s when we COULD go to the Moon? Yeah, that was terrible. Back then the Navy designed its own ships too, and we had a Navy of about 1000 ships. Now we're lucky if we can keep 300 floating and many of those are such pieces of crap they can be sunk by a pirate skiff with a .50 caliber machine gun.
Come on, POGO. Wake up. It's time to fix the problems not throw more money at them.
Posted by: Dfens | Nov 10, 2010 at 08:28 AM