Gary Aldrich Says “Expect More of the Same” from ExpectMore.gov

I can’t miss the irony of mentioning an article by Gary Aldrich (HT to an e-mail from S.O.B. Alliance member Weapons of Mass Discussion) on a day when the supposedly hot topic is the Bush Administration’s “penchant for secrecy” — a phrase used by my count no fewer, and probably a lot more, than five different times by five different people in five different venues. The former president who uttered today’s talking-points phrase was the subject of a best-selling book by Mr. Aldrich in 1996 called “Unlimited Access,” which revealed over and over that administration’s obsessive “penchant for secrecy,” from enabling employees in trusted positions to avoid necessary background and security checks to installing a phone system in The White House designed (probably illegally) to block (i.e., keep secret) caller record detail.

Enough history. Aldrich is the Founder and current Director The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty and a columnist for Townhall.com. His latest column gives a deserved rip to the addition of yet another government agency to the already incomprehensible pile, and to the site’s doublespeak:

Do you ever get the sinking feeling when reading a serious piece that the author didn’t realize the implication of his words? One is immediately stricken with such sentiment when having a glance at the website detailing a new Bush administration initiative called “expectmore.gov.”

….. Yes, government corruption, redundancy, power-hoarding, and plain bureaucratic idiocy are all grave problems. But think of the proposed solution—it takes a simple logical reduction to see that the prescription here is to combat ineffective and wasteful government programs with…another government program. Shouldn’t a flag go up if a surgeon proposes to fix your broken arm by taking a 2×4 to the other one?

….. Perhaps the most egregiously telling line on the page is, “If we believe a program is ineffective and can’t be fixed, or has outlived its usefulness, the Administration may recommend Congress spend the money on higher priority programs” (emphasis added). So, we might, possibly use expectmore.gov to cup out the government’s obvious and unsightly deposits of fat. Even leaving the possibility that OMB could deem a government program completely useless yet still not recommend that the thing be cut uncovers the dubious nature of the offices’ protests about government waste.

My immediate reaction to learning of this agency’s existence was that it duplicates some of what the Government Accountability Office does. Aldrich’s quick review shows that we don’t need expectmore.gov. We need to demand less government now, and efficiency and accountability from what remains after the scaleback.