[War] United States: Money is the root of all insanity

[pentaj2 at Scranton.edu]

"Money is the root of all insanity"
2 February 2013
President John Williams
United States
============================

Deadlines. The United States Government ran on deadlines, perhaps more 
than any other national government on the planet. Presidential 
inaugurations were at noon, every 4 years, on January 20th. A new 
Congress met for the first time on January 3rd (or at least close to 
that), every 2 years. Fiscal years ended at 2359 on September 30th, 
and 
the new fiscal year began one minute later, at 0000 on October 1st, 
every year, like clockwork.

And sometimes, as President John Williams was finding out this 
evening, 
it could get a little maddening.

Because every year, on the first Monday in February, the President had 
to submit a budget resolution to Congress. And so on February 2nd, the 
first SATURDAY in February. John Williams was with his cabinet 
secretaries, major agency heads, and budget people for the...14th hour 
straight, as they nailed the budget into place. It was midnight, maybe 
1 am on that 
Saturday.

They'd agreed on some basics quickly:

1. The surplus was -not- the signal for tax cuts. This made classic 
low-
tax Republicans, such as still existed in Washington, chafe, but POTUS 
had explained his rationale succinctly:

A. The budget needs to be at *least* balanced, both in the current 
fiscal year and the outyears, insofar as it was possible to do so. 
Surpluses causing tax cuts robbed one's winter grain for a fall feast. 
It felt good, but the early-2000s Bush tax cuts had, fiscally, 
provided 
an ample lesson: Budget forecasts could be blown to hell in an 
instant. 
Therefore, while raising taxes was not welcome as a rule, the 
government would be horrible stewards of Americans' public resources 
and money if tax cuts were to be given away like candy.

B. Deficits were meant for -extraordinary spending-. Not as a normal 
mode of practice. Sometimes they were unavoidable, such as at the low 
points in the economic cycle for example. But they were not a good 
thing except in very rare and very specific circumstances, none of 
which the United States was in or approaching, at the moment.

2. That said, while much of the surplus was being used to pay down the 
debt, that didn't mean the agencies weren't going to see -any- of it. 
But it wasn't meant for new programs, instead for short-term 
investments in things like R&D, recapitalization of equipment, and 
other generally one-time costs.

Then, the fighting began. And 14 hours later

"Okay, folks." POTUS began, holding up a hand to silence everyone. "14 
hours, it's been quite long enough, thanks.

"These are what we are going to work on in the FY14 budget. Write thy 
budget requests accordingly.

"First up: Iraq and Afghanistan have left us with a rather large 
caseload at VA. Thus, VA gets funding: To restore and generally 
modernize facilities and systems. Secretary Nulty, your ideas on 
electronic prescription systems and generally going towards electronic 
recordkeeping systems are a go...But for God's sake, if it takes time, 
it takes time. Between fast, cheap, good, we choose cheap and good.

"Next up: HHS...Again. Electronic recordkeeping, computerized 
prescription entry. Medical informatics generally. We should have done 
that 20 years ago. If that means we need to subsidize practices, 
that's 
fine. We should not be losing nearly 100 thousand people a year to 
medication errors.

"For all departments, generally: Don't focus on shiny new toys, focus 
on R&D. Basic research, since it's what government does better than 
industry, but if you see a particular application that you determine 
that industry either cannot or will not pursue, and you want to go 
after it, talk to Dr. Nolan," POTUS mentioned, gesturing at Dr. 
William Nolan, the Presidential Science Advisor; traditionally a not 
particularly influential post, but that was changing. "He'll look 
through it, and if it looks promising, bring it to me. If it does, in 
fact, seem worthwhile, then I will see if a bit of White House nudging 
can't get academia or industry to take a look. Only if that fails, and 
there's a reason why we should go on regardless of academic and 
commercial disinterest, will government be going into product 
development.

"Moving on, where we -do- need acquisition:

"DHS: Secretary Amato, I am...gratified to see that DHS is finally 
working as one cohesive unit, albeit after 12 years. Coast Guard 
ditched the Deepwater fiasco 6 years ago, but there's still the fleet 
age issue. Okay. Talk to Admiral Lawton, see what HQCG is 
thinking...Because I want the Coast Guard to look again at the issue. 
This time, you -will- be joined by auditors from GAO at every step of 
the way. Senator Warren will make the official request to GAO, but it 
comes from me. I expect this program to be a model for the Government, 
to be a textbook-worthy example of how government acquisition should 
run." A brief pause. "I'm to understand that you have ambitions for 
the Senate in 4 years, sir. If you want the faintest hope of the 
endorsement of this office, it will go right."

Amato actually went pale there. He was a professional, had spent years 
with FEMA, had enormous disaster response planning and execution 
experience...But he also had been bitten by the political bug since 
arriving in Washington 4 years before, as director of FEMA. Williams, 
and the rest of the Cabinet, knew of his private dream to be the next 
Senator from Florida. A Presidential endorsement could be very helpful 
to that quest. The lack of it could bode very ill indeed.

Williams knew that, and had just put it on the table, finishing his 
carrot-and-stick hint with a Cheshire cat grin.

"Next up: Interior, work with DOD. You've seen my notes on 
the 'Working Green Space' program, to prevent encroachment on military 
bases -and- to save habitat. It's a go. As we discussed, your 
priorities are to protect and upgrade the national parks and wildlife 
reserves, abd upgrade USGS's seismic and volcanic observation assets. 
Insofar as DOI is involved with the tribal governments through BIA: 
Use common sense, respect tribal sovereignty, but make sure that the 
tribal governments all understand one thing. The White House will no 
longer tolerate corruption within tribal governments. Clean up the 
corruption, and apply the savings gained from that to the poorest 
tribal areas. The United States Government does not provide handouts. 
We will always provide a hand up, but that means that they have to 
work to meet our hand.

"DOD: Piper, insofar as there are acquisition programs in the 
*production* phase, you're authorized to use DOD's share of the 
surplus to accelerate and, where it is sustainable, expand 
procurement. Yes, I'm thinking of F-35, but also Navy's shipbuilding 
programs. However: DOD will also be responsible for keeping an eye on 
the Coast Guard's fleet update program, given USCG's national security 
roles.

"State: See that piece of the surplus you got? That's for language 
training, the improvement of technology and methodologies to teach 
languages, and supporting those programs. I expect *every* member of 
the United States Government posted overseas to be working at 3/3 in 
their target language -as a minimum-. As we do not want that to take 
an eternity, I suggest focusing on improving the technologies. A few X 
Prizes may be helpful, and I strongly suggest investing in them.

"Justice: FBI -will get a working, modern IT system within two years-. 
You can DO it on time and on budget, with slated capabilities, if you 
actually do what you are supposed to. I expect regular progress 
reports, to be verified by GAO. Should you fail, I will be seeking 
heads on platters." POTUS was typically not so harsh with Larry 
Harris, the new Attorney General, or Lucas Maxwell, the FBI director, 
who was also in the room. This was not normal.

"Additionally, language training. This is on FBI's budget, DOD's 
budget, DOJ's budget, DHS's budget, State's budget. I strongly suggest 
cooperating, gentlemen.

"Finally: Congress is going to have the temptation to insert pork into 
your bills. Don't let them. Scream, loudly, if they try. I want a zero-
pork bill. I think we can do it. But, to encourage: I have bet each 
member of the House and Senate appropriations committees $200 each 
that they -cannot- give me *every* appropriations bill -on time-, with 
every bill passed BEFORE September 30th, with -zero- pork. And because 
pork is so variously defined, pork is defined as funding not requested 
by the President. The states may have legit requests. Okay, they can 
go through the Departments, and the Departments can sift through it 
and present the stuff that the Department Secretary concerned is 
willing to PERSONALLY back."

"If I win, and they don't manage to pull off a porkless set of 
appropriations bills, the pot goes to Toys for Tots.

"If I lose, and they -do- manage to pull it off, I'll meet every 
dollar of theirs with 10 of mine, up to a maximum of $2000, and the 
pot goes to the Nature Conservancy. To add to the pressure, we roped 
various groups that focus on fighting pork into matching me. At 
present, it's actually at a 40 to 1 match.

"Also, to encourage you to make me lose, if I win, you all will be 
matching my donation. Yes, that is -everybody-, and no shaking down 
your staffs. Rob, that means -you-."

The Treasury Secretary blushed beet red at that, as everybody had a 
laugh at his expense. "I only did it once, and I still hear about it!" 
he protested.

"Yes, because you shouldn't write checks you can't cash," Piper 
teased, smiling.
---
Actions:

1. Budget stuff. There's a bit of a surplus, see.

2. Taxes will -not- be cut. The government gets only a piece of the 
surplus: 60% will go towards paying down the debt.

3. Surplus direction for the departments:

A. VA and HHS will focus on deploying medical informatics, 
particularly electronic patient records and computerized prescription 
systems. VA will also focus on facilities upgrades and modernization, 
as well as meeting the increased caseload caused by Iraq and 
Afghanistan.

B. Unless specifically directed re acquisition, departments should 
focus on encouraging basic research, leaving applied (product-
development stuff) to industry and academia. Where, however, they're 
sure neither of the above will pursue it and the technology is useful 
to the government, they can push it to the White House for 
consideration.

C. That said, specific direction:

DHS: Coast Guard needs a fleet upgrade. Thus, DHS will look into new 
cutters, helos, and other equipment and construction for the Coast 
Guard, including facilities upgrades. To avoid the mismanagement, 
corruption, and general fiasco of the Deepwater program, they will be 
continuously monitored by GAO. DOD is also directed to keep an eye on 
them, given the USCG's national security role and the fact that this 
is a massive program for the USCG, bigger than they've previously 
dealt with.

DOD: Don't focus on -new- stuff, focus on expanding and accelerating 
existing programs that are currently in the production phase. 
Specifically, F-35 should be increased to 1500 F35As total, 600 F35Bs, 
and 450 F35Cs. Navy shipbuilding should be accelerated, within reason 
and at the best value to the government.

State: State's surplus is given for language training, research into 
technologies and methodologies to accelerate and improve language 
learning, and support of those objectives. This is met by similar 
funding for DOD, DOJ, FBI, and DHS. Cooperation between agencies is 
strongly, strongly suggested, and X prizes are encouraged.

DOJ: Ahem, ahem. FBI will get a working, modern IT system within 2 
years. Or heads will roll. GAO will be sheepdog, monitoring and 
evaluating them, with proctoscopes if need be.

4. A small bet, as noted above. Publicly announced....By POTUS, 
personally. That should help...Oh, and for the record? The winner will 
be based on the bills THAT BECOME LAW. That means, after they exit 
conference. *whistles innocently*