Today has been a great day. First Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are given portfolio and title to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency. CNN certainly has a different take on what is about to happen than the new directors themselves:
Classical business governance dogma—I must admit that it has over the past 40 years been replaced with a more mercantilist model, has always been that management is paid for creating efficiencies, and by so doing, profit and margins are improved. If they can figure out how to make a widget with one person instead of two, part of their salary will be paid from the increased utility and efficiency that they have created for their company by realizing such an opportunity. In competitive marketplaces there is a premium price paid for such creativity. Workers get paid a wage to make and do. Management gets paid to figure out how to streamline the production process and cut costs. The wage to a worker is paid no matter if profits are realized from efficiencies or not. In some organizations, management is still unfortunately paid no matter what cost reductions are realized. Bonuses for upper management in major corporations are tied to metrics that measure the successful interventions of management and the cost reductions and increased margins that are realized. Most commonly the measure of the success of management is measured by the share price and dividend that is paid to shareholders. If those go up or remain robust management gets a bonus. If they go down the bonus is taken off the table—at least that is how it is supposed to work.
Government agencies and organizations seldom are held to such a level of accountability. There are still people in our Federal Government that are working from home under COVID policies. We don’t know what many of them are producing. We have no way of measuring production or profit margins or even if a job is completed successfully or not. I believe we have similar problems measuring the efficiency of production at all levels of government, especially in our Idaho State government. We need a Department of Government Accountability in the State of Idaho. Alex Adams at The Department of Health and Welfare is currently in the process of establishing accountability guidelines and ferreting out cost and price inefficiencies and transactions between the private sector suppliers of goods and services and those who pay for those services-ultimately the taxpayer. Supply chain shenanigans, provider noncompetitive contracting, false billing by providers and “up coding” all cost Idaho taxpayers millions and probably billions of dollars. I am less familiar with other Idaho agencies, but when I see our court system that is actually very much underfunded, and our judges who are obviously underpaid when compared to other states, and then hear of huge increases in spending in The Department of Education, I first think-AUDITS PLEASE (Operational and Financial).
How is this for an idea from the private sector. Before our legislature gives themselves a pay raise—they are actually camouflaging their vote on the matter(so much for transparency), how about our Governor and Leadership in both Houses arrange for legislation to be passed establishing The Idaho Department of Efficiency—just like Mr. Trump is doing with the Federal Government. For over eight years I have called for an independent outside signed partners audit of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW). Those two ideas and drastically changing the Operational Target (OPTAR) budgeting process and streamlining the outdated Joint Finance Appropriations Committee (JAFAC) would seriously change the way our State of Idaho does business. Only then should we get around to giving anybody a pay raise—except Judges. Hire Deloitte or KPMG for 15 million dollars and they will show you how to do it. Fund a government accountant to do the same job, and they will tell you that what you are already doing is perfectly fine
Maybe when Elon and Vivek get done in Washington D.C., they can come to Idaho. They say it will take them only one year to do the job at the Federal level. Maybe they could do the job in Idaho in 3 months—the time it should take the legislature to do its business.
Finally, I would suggest that as the campaign for Governor begins to take shape every candidate should speak to not only the notion of “efficiency in government”, they all talk about that all the time, but commit to the ideas I have presented above. The Idaho citizens are tired of not having grocery tax relief. They are tired of a “mark to market” tax assessment system for property tax. They are tired of pay increases for legislators and public employees who cannot justify their own productivity efficiencies, but who continually give themselves pay raises.
Before anyone—except Judges, gets a pay raise, they should prove to WE THE PEOPLE, that they deserve it and that their job is needed.
We need an Idaho Donald Trump.
3 replies on “We Need an Idaho Donald Trump”
As I was reading your excellent article, I couldn’t help but think that we had a chance to have a Donald Trump, of sorts, as our Idaho Governor — Ammon Bundy. I imagine that the kind of shenanigans in Idaho now would NOT be present under a Governor Bundy because we would have someone who reverences the Constitution. He certainly wouldn’t have his hands extended to receive ALL of the FEDERAL FUNDS that our current “leader” has. We wouldn’t have all of the unConstitutional Federal Agencies/Bureaucracies allowed in Idaho. Idaho is perfectly capable of supporting itself. We have the resources and we have within our State, the capable hands of many who understand the importance of the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Idaho can run itself! With a Governor Bundy we would likely be closer to independence now.
YES. We need a Department of Government Efficiency in Idaho. I am sick of the mediocrity of State and County governments. Meritocracy is not even a concept most of them recognize. In my county the employees get a raise EVERY YEAR because they CAN! It makes no difference how they perform and the citizens, even when we express our displeasure, are overruled by Commissioners who allow this mediocrity to continue.
YES, WE NEED ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE TOP DOWN. That means that this next election cycle (for Governor) we need A BIG CHANGE!!
I agree. More people need to speak out about what is going on within Boise. Weed out the swamp creatures like Trump is doing. We need people who WANT TO DO THE JOB over just the prestige of the position.
Great article!
Thank you so much!