Call it a slight case of overreaction.
Rolling Stone, under the headline "Bush’s Most Radical Plan Yet," reports that "with a vote of hand-picked lobbyists, the president could terminate any federal agency he dislikes."
What the publication is referring to is a provision contained in – or, as Rolling Stone puts it, "tucked away in" – the administration’s 2006 budget proposal calling for a "Sunset Commission" to evaluate federal programs and determine if they merit continued funding.
The commission would set a schedule for reviewing federal programs every 10 years. Any programs that fail to justify their existence would be terminated, unless Congress acted to continue them.
Rolling Stone warns that the practice would result in "the end of government regulation as we know it," asserting that the commission would most likely be made up of lobbyists and executives from major corporations currently subject to federal oversight.
In fact, the White House proposal calls for the commission to be appointed by the president and congressional leaders – not by the president acting alone – and would be made up of lawmakers and government officials as well outside experts, according to the Federal Times.
Its aim would be to consolidate redundant programs or terminate those that don’t produce results, reducing what the administration calls wasteful spending by Congress.
"We just think it makes sense,” said Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, which drew up the provision.
"The goal isn’t to get rid of a program – it’s to make it work better."
According to the budget proposal, some programs don’t work well because of poor management and duplication, but overlapping congressional jurisdiction over the programs hampers efforts to fix the problems.
The White House is especially seeking to improve three types of programs:
Block grant programs, which provide funds for state and local community projects, such as building water treatment facilities.
Small-business research programs that help small businesses come up with better products.
Credit programs that provide direct loans and loan guarantees to agencies.
Block grants are the chief target. Of 98 grants examined by the OMB for the 2006 budget proposal, 45 percent could not show results and 8 percent were termed ineffective.
A Congressional Budget Office review found that in fiscal 2005, Congress appropriated more than $170 billion for programs whose spending authorizations had expired, meaning there had been no review of whether the money was being well spent.
The average federal program duplicates five others. By a recent count, there are 64 separate welfare programs and 163 job-training programs.
A Sunset Commission to combat this inefficiency is "a simple concept," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, a longtime advocate of such an oversight committee.
"Each and every federal government agency must justify its existence – not its value when it was created 100 years ago, or 40 years ago, or even 20 years ago. They must prove that they deserve our tax dollars today."
Rolling Stone shrilly cautions that if a Sunset Commission had existed 20 years ago under Ronald Reagan, today we could be without the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Highway Safety Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
But Clay Johnson expects that few programs would be terminated after a 10-year review because agencies would evaluate them every year in any case.
"We wouldn’t wait 10 years if something wasn’t working," he said. "If we want to improve it we will go ahead" and review it earlier.
And he believes the Sunset Commission will get congressional approval because 37 states already have their own similar commissions.
Others are convinced the proposal could face difficulties in getting broad congressional support.
"I think that’s something the committees should do," said Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
But he added that "it’s our responsibility" to evaluate programs and find out if some have outlived their usefulness.
And the proposal is likely to receive a positive reception from congressional Republicans who campaigned on the need to reduce the size of the government.
"It’s going to be way up on the agenda," said House Government Reform Committee spokesman Robert White.
The Sunset Commission proposal is "all about" making programs work, Clay Johnson declared in a recent interview.
"It’s our habit to believe that every program should get better every year."
