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Sunday, January 05, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





Way to balance budget gets zero support from bureaucrats &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 One of the best recent letters to come from your Mail Bag was printed on &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Veterans' DayIn fewer than 400 words Paul Nemchick explained how to balance
the federal budget and at the same time improve the efficiency of our federal
government. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His prescription was zero-based budgeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The words sound complicated, but the process is simplicity itself. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anyone can understand it, and that's the reason we'll never have it: The
people would not put up with the mismanagement and waste we suffer if they
knew what is being done to them under the present system. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As Mr. Nemchick explains, agency heads now come to the budget table
demanding the same amount (marked up for inflation, of course) to carry on
their current programs, plus additions for new programs they have dreamed up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There is no effective examination into whether their current programs are
needed -- or even desirable. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As someone has observed, "if ~the government had ever gotten into the
business of making buggy whips, it would still be making them." They then take
pains to spend every penny, because there is no incentive to save our money:
Anything left over is charged against their next year's appropriations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A look at the federal payroll shows the results of our using the
incremental budget system. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 President Eisenhower limited the number of federal civilian employees to
one million. Reportedly the number is now over three million and growing. If
we assume conservatively that each federal employee costs us a $100,000 in
salaries, benefits, and supplies and equipment, we are paying $200 billion a
year for this ballooning federal bureaucracy. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 These are no secrets. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some bright people in Washington know how to balance the budget, reduce
taxes, and increase benefits to the public, all at the same time. But
bureaucrats see the problem as being how to balance the budget while
increasing the size of their bureaucracy. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Zero-based budgeting is not a new concept, as Mr. Nemchick pointed out in
his letter: No successful private business could do without it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 President Jimmy Carter once spoke in favor of it. But immediately his aides
clamped their hands over his mouth, and that's the last time you've heard of
ZBB from Washington. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Don't expect to hear of it again. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 William H. Corbett &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Shickshinny &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Way To Balance Budget Gets Zero Support From Bureaucrats One Of The Best Recent Letters To Come From Your Mail Bag Was Printed On Veterans' Day.