Yesterday we noted Sen. Mike Bennet’s (D-CO) comments Saturday regarding government overspending. Today, The New York Times highlights Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s (D-OR) thoughts on federal spending. According to the paper Rep. Blumenauer believes lawmakers “need to bring the costs of [federal government] programs in line with reality.”
What Rep. Blumenauer means, essentially, is that government must eliminate waste and make sure its programs run effectively. He explains: “We do people no favors if we have systems that leak money … People will pay for all this if they’re convinced they’re getting their value. But our challenge on the federal level is to actually deliver, and we can’t just defend the indefensible.”
The Times notes Rep. Blumenauer is “nobody’s idea of a centrist” — he favors most government programs. Whether he’s right or not on the size of government is another question, but the congressman is clearly correct that Americans are concerned about government waste. (As our new video points out, 66% of Americans think the government wastes “a lot” of their tax dollars.) He’s also right that Congress must eliminate waste before it can be expected to tackle larger issues.
