Government Cost Reduction

Our elected representatives don’t work for the voters. They work for their own careers in government. They only report to their campaign contributors and special interest groups they don’t want to offend by ignoring them. They make sure they don’t offend special interest groups who would be interested in replacing them. Most of all, elected officials are loyal to their government tribes. We have created government by the government, of the government and for the government.

Political campaign costs are unsustainable and need to be reduced.  Restricting campaign contributions to “voters only” would solve this problem and improve the breed of politicians. Registered US citizen voters should be the only ones who should be permitted to make campaign contributions and only to those politicians who appear on their ballot.  This reform would end TV attack ads, bribery and corruption.  Politicians would need a website with their full resume and their positions on all relevant issues. They would need some travel money and some yard signs. They would not need large expensive campaign staffs. Corporations and special interest groups would need to exercise their “free speech rights” on their own websites.

Politicians should be expected to obey the same laws imposed on the voters. This would end corruption in government. This would encourage honest citizens to run for elective office. They would need to understand the basic functions of government and would exercise a healthy skepticism of governments’ footprint. They would be Constitutionalists who view government’s role as very limited.

The federal government needs to send most of what it does back to the States. Federal land should be returned to the States to sell to the private sector. Unconstitutional departments, agencies and programs should be returned to the States under the 10^th Amendment.

The federal government needs to reduce its footprint to focus on the “enumerated powers” listed in the Original US Constitution (as written).

Cities, Counties and States should operate by priority to provide roads, highways, bridges, sewer systems, water treatment and clean water. The rest should be provided by the Private Sector.

Welfare needs to be reduced as jobs become available. The first cuts should address non-citizens. Immigrants should not be eligible for welfare.

Government needs to implement process control, automation, tight cyber security of data and elimination of threats to electric grids and water systems. Government needs to end its “stovepipe” structure and make databases secure for common use. Government should adopt “Lean Management” techniques and follow metrics to reduce all costs by removing all unnecessary processes. Congress should engage in this cost reduction process.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader