OPINION:
With the advent of the Department of Government Efficiency, there has been talk of defunding PBS and Planned Parenthood, among others (“DOGE sets sights first on ‘low-hanging fruit’ of government waste, fraud and abuse,” web, Dec. 4).
I completely support this, but let’s not miss any opportunities by focusing solely on defunding. We also need to reduce the $1.8 trillion deficit. This is paramount because $1 trillion of that is just interest. We need to sell whatever we can and redirect that money to the federal debt, simultaneously reducing both federal outlay and federal interest payments.
PBS can be auctioned to the highest bidder. Amtrak, the U.S. Postal Service and other government-owned and government-subsidized enterprises can all have initial public offerings — and the U.S. government can still maintain at least 51% ownership, while allowing activist investors to buy in and fix the bureaucratic mess.
Planned Parenthood falls into another category altogether. It probably could not be monetized, but it could likely be spun off into a nonprofit, which would allow those who support it to fund it privately. This would make it easier politically to continue the much-needed budgetary reforms.
The federal government needs to be overhauled, yet that is a difficult proposition given entrenched interests and public opinion. Each action taken is likely to be met with pushback. Each objective needs to be palatable to moderates. DOGE and its allies will need to be able to compromise with opponents and maximize any action it is able to take.
CHARLES DIXON
Fairfax Station, Virginia
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