Can you guess which prominent American politician made the following statement in 2008:”I will conduct an immediate and periodic public inventory of administrative offices and functions and require agency leaders to work together to root out redundancy. Where consolidation is not the right strategy to improve efficiency, I will improve information sharing and use of common assets to minimize wasteful duplication.” If you guessed Republican John McCain, you guessed wrong. Those words were spoken by then-candidate Barack Obama as part of his promise of “a net spending cut” in Washington. But instead of going down, federal spending has skyrocketed, with the annual deficit tripling to more than $1.4 trillion. This extravagance is among the reasons Massachusetts voters just elected Republican Scott Brown, who promised to support lowering federal taxes and spending.
As Democrats come to grips with the Massachusetts returns, up steps Sen. Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who collaborated with then-Sen. Obama on the Federal Financial Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, aka “Coburn-Obama.” That law led to the creation of USASpending.gov, the searchable Internet site that puts most federal spending within a few mouse clicks for every citizen. Coburn is offering an amendment today on the Senate floor that will help Obama make good on his promise in 2008 to root out duplication and redundancy in federal spending programs. As a step toward a renewed bipartisanship, Senate Democrats should support Coburn’s amendment, as should Obama for the same reason.
