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President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for greater power to shrink the federal government, and his first idea is merging six sprawling trade and commerce agencies whose overlapping programs can be baffling to businesses, a senior administration official told The Associated Press
Obama will call on Congress to give him a type of reorganizational power last held by a president when Ronald Reagan was in office. The Obama version would be a so-called consolidation authority allowing him to propose mergers that promise to save money and help consumers. The deal would entitle him to an up-or-down vote from Congress in 90 days.
If Obama scaled back the actual regulatory powers of the agencies or eliminated them all together, it might mean something.
Having the same rules with less people to oversee them will just make it worse.
When he calls for the elimination of Dept's of Education and Homeland Security, we'll know he is serious about scaling back government.
That's one mighty big task there. I can see consolidating overlapping agencies but there must be something else they are doing to be considered separate.
I agree with Frank..you cannot consolidate and lay off workers if you don't streamline your processes first. You also need to consolidate your software. The state of Texas tried that and is still going through pains. Several agencies dealing with social programs each had different software and forms with lots of overlap. They are not consolidated years later. And this is just at the state level.
That's one mighty big task there. I can see consolidating overlapping agencies but there must be something else they are doing to be considered separate.
I agree with Frank..you cannot consolidate and lay off workers if you don't streamline your processes first. You also need to consolidate your software. The state of Texas tried that and is still going through pains. Several agencies dealing with social programs each had different software and forms with lots of overlap. They are not consolidated years later. And this is just at the state level.
Sounds like Obama finally understands that it's only logical to be a conservative in this country. (Yeah right!) This is, in fact, a long-held Republican agenda item. Talk about election year politicking!
That's one mighty big task there. I can see consolidating overlapping agencies but there must be something else they are doing to be considered separate.
The issue is that for decades, when addressing issues Congress preferred creating new bureaucracies rather than modify ones that already existed. This had the added bonus that each new staff would create jobs in someone's district. The result is there are now more than 100 Federal agencies, ranging from the Department of Defense with more than a million employees, to some "micro-agencies" with less than 100. The entire list is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/defa...year/app_c.pdf
(My favorite: the Marine Mammal Commission...)
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan
I agree with Frank..you cannot consolidate and lay off workers if you don't streamline your processes first. You also need to consolidate your software. The state of Texas tried that and is still going through pains. Several agencies dealing with social programs each had different software and forms with lots of overlap. They are not consolidated years later. And this is just at the state level.
Reorganizations always suck. Homeland Security is still consolidating after nearly a decade it's been painful. The good news here is the agencies Obama wants to consolidate at least have similar mission areas and the scope will be much smaller. It's the little things that always create friction and makes the process hard.
Sounds like Obama finally understands that it's only logical to be a conservative in this country. (Yeah right!) This is, in fact, a long-held Republican agenda item. Talk about election year politicking!
Well, he has already trimmed 600 000 government empolyees in the past two years (willingly or unwillingly), so maybe it is not only election year stuff.
Sounds like Obama finally understands that it's only logical to be a conservative in this country. (Yeah right!) This is, in fact, a long-held Republican agenda item. Talk about election year politicking!
You do realize the reason this wasn't done already is the number of Committee Chairmen who would lose their Committee, they don't like the idea. The Repubs hold those chairs, sooooo....
But it doesn't happen overnight. Easy to say but very hard to implement.
No agency wants to give up what they do knowing there will be layoffs.
I don't they will ask whether or not the agecies want it. If there are two agencies doing the samew thing, they will be merged whether they like it or not.
I think this is another initiative which should be embraced by both parties. There are no excuses to oppose this kind of thing.
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