“If these problems are left to fester, they will further erode Americans’
trust in government. More importantly, Americans will not get the
benefits they deserve from the investments they make with their taxes.
And that money will continue being wasted…If we don’t solve them
now, we will have surrendered our ability to address other problems in
the future when the retirement of the baby boomers will place increased
demand on our resources.” Fred Thompson, 2001
They’re prescient words from the presidential candidate. Six years later, Congress’ approval level
has tumbled to as low as 14 percent according to some polls, unfunded liabilities continue to pile
up as the government puts off solutions, and Republicans have lost majorities in both the House
and Senate, in large part because conservative voters know they haven’t hewed to their values or
their commitment to threats abroad by controlling the checkbook at home.
September 11 changed many things, but it did not eliminate the need to rein in government waste.
If anything, the ongoing threat to our country should have pushed lawmakers to make tough
decisions about spending to free up money for defense. Fighting excess at home and Islamism
abroad would have been the surest way to secure the blessings of liberty for generations to come.
Thompson’s report found waste, duplication, and even security threats in almost every agency
of government, citing workforce management, financial management, information technology
management, and overlap and duplication as the areas ripe for reform.
Recent revelations of corruption on both sides of the aisle and highly visible breakdowns in the
federal favor machine—fueled by earmarks—have made lobbying and earmark reform public
priorities, even if Congress remains unenthusiastic about the idea. The problems persist, and
conservatives are demanding a leader who will solve them. Is Thompson that leader? Is Rudy
Giuliani or Mitt Romney? Or Huckabee or McCain?
The 2008 presidential race is another opportunity for responsible, conservative citizens to take on
the problems of big government and demand that their representatives do the same. The first step
in convincing fellow citizens and politicians of those problems is to make sure you know exactly
what they are.
This book will help.
Author Profile
Senator Thompson, as head of the Governmental Affairs Committee in the Senate for four years,
wrote his report on government spending in June 2001. Three months later, September 11 had
changed the skyline of New York City and the political landscape of America forever. A sense
of security vanished, replaced by a Homeland Security budget. The “peace dividend” vanished,
replaced with increased defense spending and combat in Afghanistan.
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