Government’s Wasteful Habits

It’s time to create a new model for Government and it won’t affect the Charter of Rights or the Constitution in any way shape or form. This model will change only the way the Government handles the taxpayer’s money. First each area of Government that has a budget must and spends money must have their employees take an oath to handle all financial transactions using the North American “Good Accounting Practices (GAP)” and sign a document to that affect. Next the fiscal year of 2008 will be used as a baseline for all financial comparisons and activities going forward. The next step is somewhat more difficult but it is a must for this model to be successful. Each Department (or section etc) Manager must provide a monthly accounting to their superior and then this manager to their superior all the way to the top bureaucrat in that particular area of the Government. This report will report the normal cost accounting data ie spending against plan etc but it will contain one other piece of accounting information. It will contain a summary indicating any and all actions initiated by the department that have eliminated waste (meaning unnecessary spending) in their area. These savings must be visible in the cost accounting report. In other words it can’t be money saved in one place and lost in another. It has to be a reduction from the total budget. These savings will be tracked and at the end of the year the savings will be translated into a percentage of the budget and each employee will see their pay checks increase by the same percentage. Their salary will remain the same as long as the savings remain intact. If the savings for the next year remain in place but no further savings are found then their salaries are increased by inflation only. If the savings are lost then their salaries are reduced by the same percentage as the loss. Once every five years the baseline will be adjusted accordingly so that an incentive remains. The necessary audits are required to ensure adherence to GAP. The definition of waste does not include viable services and programs but it does include the unnecessary expenditures to deliver them. Millions upon millions are wasted every year and there is not adequate oversight to stop the bleeding of taxpayer cash. Until bureaucrats believe there is something in it for them they are unlikely to spend much time looking to cut out waste and lower the budget because they are always trying to find ways to at least maintain the budget they currently have. That is why there is always a rush to spend money at the end of the year. As the old saying goes “if you don’t use it you lose it” when it comes to government budgets. I think it would be worth a try but it would take a politician with “gonads” to make it happen. Is that an oxymoron?