Audits couldn’t possibly find government waste, could they?

By J.R. | July 22, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

One of the more humorous highlights of Brian Kirwin’s and my most recent trip to Richmond was seeing all the flyers up in government buildings ordering government employees to attend in person mandatory recycling training. Certainly that training was not wasteful.

Moments later, we were sitting in the attorney general’s office listening to Attorney General McDonnell describe his reasonable proposal to save some money for future use on transportation: a VDOT audit. After seeing the flyers, we thought he might be on to something.

But the howls and hoots coming from the left could be heard across the commonwealth.

Surely there would be no cost savings. Surely there’s no government waste. Surely this is just an example of obstructionism from fiscal conservatives.

Well, Norm writes today that a significant cost savings can be found through a simple audit…and it occurred in the home of the Capitol of all places: Richmond.

Interesting that Richmond can see that an audit of government is part of a comprehensive solution to finding more revenue for the government, which is fortunate for the citizens of Richmond; unfortunately for the rest of us, Democrats of all stripes in state government think it’s a waste of time.

Comments

3 Responses to “Audits couldn’t possibly find government waste, could they?”

Joel McDonald on July 22nd, 2008 4:26 pm

Many of us, those supporting the Democratic Party, are calling for more accountability in the function of government. We want more openness. We want to know how efficient (or inefficient) the government really is, and then make changes to correct whatever bottlenecks and wasteful spending there might be. Maybe that’s a more moderate position, but I’ve never heard anyone argue against accountability. It’s even a part of Obama’s Blueprint for Change.
Brian Kirwin on July 22nd, 2008 5:17 pm

Joel, everyone says they’re for more accountability. But do they make it happen?

You can stand facing a corner of a room all day and talk about how you’re cleaning up the mess in that room, but if you only look at the wall, you don’t ever see what needs cleaning.
Joel McDonald on July 23rd, 2008 12:58 pm

Brian, unfortunately there is a difference between voters calling for accountability and politicians holding themselves accountable. Being someone who supports more transparency in government spending, I applauded when Barack Obama and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) passed a law to create a Google-like search engine to allow regular people to track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and loans online.