The Washington Post recently ran a very interesting and revealing article, reprinted in the October 6th edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch, about how OUR tax dollars are squandered at the end of the federal government's fiscal year. The federal governments fiscal year ends September 30th each year.
Essentially, each department of the government has a budget. If all the funds for federal contracts are not used by the end of the fiscal year, unused monies are lost forever, and the possibility of budget reductions becomes likely for the upcoming fiscal year. To avoid this ARMAGEDDON of unspent money and possible budget cutbacks, extra ordinary spending occurs the last few weeks of each fiscal year. Thus, the tradition of "use it (budgeted funding) or lose it" has become a tradition throughout the federal government.
Consider, there are 52 weeks in a year, and when 100% of a budget is equally divided it means slightly less than 2 % of the budget should be used each week. However, in the last three fiscal years, records indicate that an astounding average of 19.3 % of all federal budgets was spent the last five weeks of the year. The battle cry from private contractors, government bosses, and federal workers becomes, "USE IT OR LOSE IT." Overtime, and a shopping frenzy dictate that all allotted funds be used. Here are a few astounding examples cited by the Washington Post article:
1. "In a single day the Agriculture Department spent $ 144,000.00 on toner cartridges."
2. "In a single purchase, the Coast Guard spent $ 178,000.00 on "Cubicle Furniture Rehab"."
3. "The USDA bought $ 127,000.00 worth of toner cartridges, ( "end of year ", the order explained )".
4. "Two weeks ago, The Department of Veterans Affairs bought $ 562, 000.00 worth of artwork."
5. "On another day, the VA was buying art again. It spent $ 216,000.00 on artwork for a facility in Florida."
6. "The VA paid $ 27,000.00 for an order of photographs showing sunsets, mountain peaks and country roads."
7. "Two weeks ago, ImmixGroup (private contractor) began bringing its sales team three catered meals a day. If workers walked to Subway, they might lose a sale ( to a government agency). On that day, ImmixGroup handled $ 16,000,000.00 in business. A normal Monday is about $ 2 million."
As usual President Obama blames Congress, and Congress blames the President. Also as usual, US taxpayers get screwed by their government's wasteful spending. It's not a new problem. "President Lyndon Johnson ... in May of 1965, said an end-of-year binge was "an ancient practice - but that does not justify it or excuse it"." Indeed !
Solutions to the problem include better planning, better decision making, a budgeting system other than CR's (continuing resolutions) which allocate funds piecemeal. Perhaps a bonus system, from the for profit private sector, which rewards government managers for budget reductions and better productivity would help. At any rate I expect no improvements. In my opinion, as long as we vote in the old grays of Congress the problem will continue. In my opinion, a slim chance of reform comes from the young, energetic Libertarian, Independent, and Tea Party legislators who are consistently demonized by senior politicians and their press lackeys as rebels, radicals, and anarchists. Your vote for reform in 2014 & 2016 - USE IT OR LOSE IT !
Essentially, each department of the government has a budget. If all the funds for federal contracts are not used by the end of the fiscal year, unused monies are lost forever, and the possibility of budget reductions becomes likely for the upcoming fiscal year. To avoid this ARMAGEDDON of unspent money and possible budget cutbacks, extra ordinary spending occurs the last few weeks of each fiscal year. Thus, the tradition of "use it (budgeted funding) or lose it" has become a tradition throughout the federal government.
Consider, there are 52 weeks in a year, and when 100% of a budget is equally divided it means slightly less than 2 % of the budget should be used each week. However, in the last three fiscal years, records indicate that an astounding average of 19.3 % of all federal budgets was spent the last five weeks of the year. The battle cry from private contractors, government bosses, and federal workers becomes, "USE IT OR LOSE IT." Overtime, and a shopping frenzy dictate that all allotted funds be used. Here are a few astounding examples cited by the Washington Post article:
1. "In a single day the Agriculture Department spent $ 144,000.00 on toner cartridges."
2. "In a single purchase, the Coast Guard spent $ 178,000.00 on "Cubicle Furniture Rehab"."
3. "The USDA bought $ 127,000.00 worth of toner cartridges, ( "end of year ", the order explained )".
4. "Two weeks ago, The Department of Veterans Affairs bought $ 562, 000.00 worth of artwork."
5. "On another day, the VA was buying art again. It spent $ 216,000.00 on artwork for a facility in Florida."
6. "The VA paid $ 27,000.00 for an order of photographs showing sunsets, mountain peaks and country roads."
7. "Two weeks ago, ImmixGroup (private contractor) began bringing its sales team three catered meals a day. If workers walked to Subway, they might lose a sale ( to a government agency). On that day, ImmixGroup handled $ 16,000,000.00 in business. A normal Monday is about $ 2 million."
As usual President Obama blames Congress, and Congress blames the President. Also as usual, US taxpayers get screwed by their government's wasteful spending. It's not a new problem. "President Lyndon Johnson ... in May of 1965, said an end-of-year binge was "an ancient practice - but that does not justify it or excuse it"." Indeed !
Solutions to the problem include better planning, better decision making, a budgeting system other than CR's (continuing resolutions) which allocate funds piecemeal. Perhaps a bonus system, from the for profit private sector, which rewards government managers for budget reductions and better productivity would help. At any rate I expect no improvements. In my opinion, as long as we vote in the old grays of Congress the problem will continue. In my opinion, a slim chance of reform comes from the young, energetic Libertarian, Independent, and Tea Party legislators who are consistently demonized by senior politicians and their press lackeys as rebels, radicals, and anarchists. Your vote for reform in 2014 & 2016 - USE IT OR LOSE IT !
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