Obama plays politics -- and has a good idea to shrink gov't
William Brown Credit: Tribune Media Services
You don't have to be a cynic to think President Barack Obama is playing politics in asking Congress for authority to consolidate six federal agencies to make doing business in the United States easier.
It is an election year, and the Republican mantra that government is too big plays well with many voters. So Obama's move to shrink government is good politics. And if congressional Republicans refuse his request for a vote within 90 days on any consolidation plan, he can slam them for thwarting their own good-government agenda for partisan reasons.
Politics aside, consolidating agencies focused on business and trade is a good idea. Obama's plan is to elevate the Small Business Administration to the cabinet, combine it with the Commerce Department and merge under that umbrella the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. That would reduce the maze of overlapping bureaucracies, which should make life easier for American companies.
As streamlining goes, the proposal is minuscule. It would eliminate 1,000 to 2,000 jobs, mostly through attrition, and save $3 billion over 10 years, a relative pittance for a government that spends $3.7 trillion a year.
But as former Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-Ill.) is credited with observing, "a billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you're talking about real money."
