The Business of Government

Mitt Romney recently stated “I don’t know who else is going to get in the race but I do believe that it would be helpful if at least one of the people who’s running in the Republican field had extensive experience in the private sector, in small business, in big business, working with the economy."

This seems to be a prevailing theme of both Mitt Romney as well as many conservatives. The idea being that government should be run like a business because conservatives tend to tie free market ideology to cost effectiveness. While I don't think this approach recognizes the differences between the two entities and the diverging interests of each, I am interested in how this belief is being represented in the current budget debate.

When a business is deep in the hole and needs to make drastic changes to avoid bankruptcy they don't spend all of their time dissecting their budget for savings on pens, white out and staples. Unfortunately that is the approach that is being taken by Republicans. They are going after very small items that have almost no impact on the national debt or budget deficit.

Additionally you don't cut from areas where the savings from the cuts result in a loss in revenue greater than the savings. If saving a dollar means you lose two dollars in revenue you are worse off than making no cuts at all. Republicans are offering cuts to the IRS even though every dollar spent by the IRS on audits, liens and property seizures bring in $10 to the government. Not only are you catching people breaking the law but you are getting a great return. What business wouldn't take a 10 to 1 return on their investment.

While there may be some value to running the government like a business the practical application of this ideology by Republicans indicates this is just rhetoric used to dupe people. They are using the good will of those who actually care about the national debt to make politically motivated cuts against programs they don't like.

NPR, Planned Parenthood, Unions, and the IRS are the staplers and copy paper of the national budget - they offer more for values voters than real deficit reduction. While politically targeted cuts are standard fare in our corporate sponsored version of Democracy, hiding behind real concerns to make these cuts is very disappointing.