OPINION:
President Obama has proposed consolidating certain operations of the Department of Commerce, eliminating between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs over a 10-year period through attrition in an effort to increase government efficiency (“Obama seeks power to merge agencies,” Web, Friday).
This, of course, follows the addition of 139,000 jobs to the government payroll since 2008. Mr. Obama also asked Congress to approve a $1.2 trillion increase in the national debt (currently at $15.2 trillion) so he can continue his spending spree. He has added almost $5 trillion to the national debt since he took office. With that kind of history, he has got to be kidding when he argues that cutting a thousand or two jobs will make the government more efficient.
Mr. Obama should get real about streamlining government and make it more efficient by pushing a number of plans that have been proposed by Congress, including his own debt commission that recommended $4 trillion in cuts.
Also, Mr. Obama should adhere to the words he spoke when he objected to President George W. Bush’s request to raise the U.S. debt limit. At that time, the then-senator from Illinois said: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally.”
Realistic actions to streamline government, without political games, should go a long way toward solving our debt and government efficiency problems for the betterment of all Americans - particularly taxpayers.
FRANK MEDICO
Mount Vernon
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