III
Talk is cheap. Where I come from, in the auto industry, you were held brutally accountable for your programs and products. The response to any idea was, “Show me where it’s working.” Well, that’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? For example, it took us a long time to install air bags in cars because we had to figure out how to build an explosive device that didn’t take your head off in the process of trying to protect you. It had to work. That’s not happening in the political or economic realms today. Where’s the accountability for results?
If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time scratching your head and wondering what they’re doing up there on Capitol Hill. Well, we already know that they’re only working 27 percent of the time. You’d think there would be a sense of urgency when they do come to Washington.
Is it too much to ask our elected officials to actually solve a problem once in a while? How about even taking a stab at an issue that matters to Americans? When pollsters ask ordinary people what they really care about, in order of importance, here’s what they say: (1) the war in Iraq, (2) jobs, (3) health care, (4) education, and (5) energy. Those seem like reasonable priorities to me. But in 2006, although there was plenty of posturing about the war and the economy, when it came to legislative priorities—that is, actually doing something—the liveliest debates were about side issues. In one three-month session in the United States Senate these were the priorities: a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, and cutting the capital gains tax. Our senators had time to debate flag burning for three days, but no time to tackle health care, energy, jobs, or anything else Americans care about. Since 1777, there have been only forty-five documented cases of flag burning. But since 2000, nearly three million manufacturing jobs have gone up in smoke, and it wasn’t because people were burning flags. No wonder only 25 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.
It’s too soon to say whether or not things will improve under Democratic leadership. But neither side has shown a commitment to breaking gridlock in recent years, so I’m not very optimistic.
The Constitution of the United States was drafted in fewer than one hundred working days. That was quite an accomplishment. It’s fair to ask our legislators, “What have you done for us lately? What can you show us that’s working?”
CAN YOU SHOW ME WHERE IT’S WORKING?
Nobody even asks the question, so I guess I will.
· Homeland security. Where is it working?
· The permanent tax cut. Where is it working?
· No Child Left Behind. Where is it working?
· The Patriot Act. Where is it working?
· Welfare reform. Where is it working?
That’s just the short list. And whatever happened to Social Security reform? Immigration reform? Health care reform? Why is it so hard to find out what’s actually getting done? Could it be because nothing is getting done? I hope not, but I’m not too sure.
WHEN IN DOUBT, BUILD A BUREAUCRACY
There’s one thing the folks on Capitol Hill do seem to be good at: building bureaucracies. I have to tell you, I really threw up my hands in despair the day they announced the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. At the very moment when we most needed to be lean and mean, we decided to undertake the largest government reorganization in fifty years! The DHS consolidated twenty-two agencies and nearly two hundred thousand federal employees under its vast umbrella.
What kind of job is the Department of Homeland Security doing? How is it spending its fifty-billion-dollar-a-year budget? Are we safer now than we were before 9/11? Yes or no? The bipartisan 9/11 Commission has given the Department of Homeland Security a failing grade (five Fs, twelve Ds, and two incompletes) for not making headway on the commission’s key recommendations for keeping us safer. Specifically, the commission cites:
· No headway on federal agencies sharing intelligence and terrorism information.
· No improvement in airline-passenger prescreening.
· No improvement on nuclear power plant security. (In mock terrorist incidents, over half the plants failed.)
· Little improvement in border security.
If I’d brought home a report card like that, my father would have taken me to the woodshed. He insisted on straight As and accepted no excuses. He taught me that striving for excellence was my ticket to the American dream. Maybe that ideal has been lost.
For most of us, the only experience we have with the Department of Homeland Security is when we go to an airport. After 9/11, air safety was job one. Right? Well, they took away our nail clippers and our liquids. They reinforced cockpit doors—which was actually a smart thing to do. And they put air marshals on planes. We all feel safer knowing there might be an air marshal on our plane.
But wait a minute. According to a group of air marshals who publicly complained about the program, it’s so transparent that even little kids can identify them. Maybe it’s the dress code. Or maybe it’s the fact that air marshals have to publicly check in and show their credentials twice before they get on the plane. First at the metal detectors, and then at the gate. And once they get on board, they have to visit the cockpit and show their credentials to the pilot. They do everything but personally introduce themselves to the passengers. By the time an air marshal takes his seat, the only people on board who haven’t pegged him are either zoned out on their iPods or asleep.
The biggest problem with airport security is that it’s reactive, not proactive. Threat of shoe bombs? Everyone takes off their shoes. Threat of liquid explosives? Everyone dumps their mouth-wash and deodorant. I hope nobody tries to get past security with explosives hidden in a book, or you won’t be reading this on your flight to Cincinnati.
PLENTY OF RHETORIC, LITTLE ACTION
I’m starting to get the suspicion that maybe the point of government is the bureaucracy, not the results. I started thinking about all the great crusades we’ve had in the last forty years. Politicians like to wage these so-called wars with great fanfare. We’ve declared war on poverty, war on drugs, war on big government, war on crime—just to name a few. That’s in addition to our real wars. But have you ever noticed that once the big campaign is rolled out and the politicians have all patted each other on the back, we never hear about it again? Did we win? Did we lose? Does anybody know?
The war on drugs was launched thirty-six years ago. If they’re not careful, it’s going to turn into the hundred-year war. How’re we doing? We spend around $40 billion a year fighting the war on drugs. A conservative estimate of the total amount we’ve spent would be around one trillion dollars. So, are we winning? Well, we lock up about two million people a year—mostly drug users. But every expert analysis of our progress shows the same thing: After thirty-six years, we have not reduced the quantity of drugs or the consumption of drugs one lousy percentage point.
Wake up, fellas. We’ve lost the war on drugs. But let any politician even suggest that we try a different strategy and he gets accused of being soft on drugs. It’s a hell of a way to run a war.
A RADICAL PROPOSAL
In Congress they pass law after law. They never really stop to look at the effects of the laws they pass. They just pass another one. They keep grinding out that sausage, and no one goes back and says, “Last year we budgeted $2 billion for that program. Did it work? Did we get a bang for our buck?” There’s no time for oversight. They’re already moving on to the next $2 billion. Is anyone surprised that 80 percent of Americans say our government is broken?
So I have a proposal, and I know it’s a little radical, but hear me out. I’d like to give Congress a year off. That’s right. One year. I’d send them to a quiet place where they wouldn’t be distracted—maybe a nice convention center on Lake Michigan. And I’d tell them, “For the next year your job is NOT to pass any new laws or spend any new money. Your job is to evaluate what you’ve already done. Take each one of the hundreds of bills you’ve passed in the last three years, and show where it’s working. And if it’s notworking, pull the plug on it.
“Don’t worry about being away from Washington for a year. Most people won’t even know you’re gone. We’ll have someone answer the phones and take messages. We’ll call you if anything really urgent comes up.” But come to think of it, what could be more urgent than figuring out how to run a country that works?