OPINION:
Last week, President Obama signed an executive order limiting government printing and the use of extraneous promotional items, or “swag.” The goal of limiting government printing is a good policy but it doesn’t go far enough.
The issue that now needs to be addressed is the amount of unnecessary art and graphics that are included in many federal government documents. The federal government could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year through a program of removing unnecessary art and graphics that are not substantively relevant to the information conveyed in government documents.
This savings would be realized by not purchasing the unnecessary art, not engaging in unnecessary graphic design and not paying to print these extra materials. The goal of deficit reduction and a balanced federal budget is a marathon and the president last week took one step toward completing that marathon. If, however, he is going to stop for a pat-on-the-back and a photo-op after each step in this marathon, we will never make any real progress.
MARK GUIMOND
Washington
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