Lists

            At the beginning of every new year we are treated to two familiar lists from media pundits. One is a list of prognostications, as if these seers think they possess an infallible crystal ball. Inevitably, many of them end up dining on humble pie at the end of the year, like The New York Times economics guru Paul Krugman who predicted that the stock market would collapse after Trump’s election to the presidency.

            The second list is the wish list. It is safer, if for no other reason that disappointment does not destroy belief in Santa Claus, irrespective of liberal convictions that big government is really Santa Claus in disguise. When it comes to politics, we don’t have to be experts to come up with our own wish list. I have one, but space restrictions imposed by our wonderful editor limits me at this time to just one item under the general heading of Draining the Swamp: Reforming the federal bureaucracy.

            There are approximately two million federal government employees. They earn an average salary of $100,000 a year. And that does not include automatic increases, bonuses, terrific benefits, and one of the most generous pension plans in the land. All told, these employees earn an estimated 61% more than workers in comparable private sector jobs. Outrageous? It gets better. Because federal employees belong to a union, they are covered by rules that make it practically impossible to get fired.       

            Decertifying federal worker unions would go a long way to draining this bloated government swamp. But that’s not going to happen, not as long as Washington’s most voracious swamp denizens are found under the Capitol dome. But maybe conservatives in Congress can begin to effect change. The current budget blueprint calls for a $5 billion cut in non-defense spending in 2018 and a $1.3 trillion reduction in domestic spending over the next 10 years. It’s not hard to find targets. For example, there are 92 anti-poverty duplicative programs administered by government agencies; eliminating the duplication would save $843 million a year.

            Will reform happen? The Republican-controlled House determines appropriations, but every measure it proposes will be opposed by Democrats who are owned by the unions and committed to big government solutions to every problem. That’s why a wish list is called a wish list.