Disastrous Budget Cuts

A recent column by Michael Gerson (“The real world effects of budget cuts”), as well as the frequent predictions of disaster that we’ve seen in the media during the budget debates, reminded me of an experience I had almost forty years ago. I was serving on the USS Enterprise during Vietnam, when word came down of cuts that were expected in the military budget. We had a new photo officer on the ship. Most of his previous assignments had been in joint commands. As we discussed the cuts, he said: “Let me tell you how this works. When the Navy is told its budget will be cut, the response is: ‘Can do. It will be hard, but we will make do.’ When the Air Force is told its budget will be cut, the response is: ‘That’s too bad. We won’t be able to fly bombers and fighters.’ So the Navy budget is cut and the Air Force budget is restored.”

I have thought of that occasion often over the years. Government departments and agencies at all levels seem to have learned from the Air Force. When the National Park Service was told a few years ago that its budget would be cut, it immediately announced that the Washington Monument would be closed. When the state DOE is threatened with a budget cut, we are told that will mean no books for our children’s classes. When the Agriculture Department is threatened with cuts, they announce that will be the end of the school lunch program. So when the administrator of USAID announces that a cut in his budget will mean 70,000 additional deaths as a very successful program is cut, I’m not surprised. Bureaucrats have learned that the way to preserve their budgets is to threaten to cut their most visible, critical and/or popular programs. No one suggests cutting personnel in middle management or eliminating programs or expenditures that would hardly be missed by the public.

Had I been in that House committee hearing, I would have said: “So you are telling me that the malaria control program is the least important program that you have and that there are no other places your agency could make cuts that would have a lesser impact?”

We need leaders in government that have something of the old Navy “Can do” spirit. Government, after all, is not a “jobs program.” Government agencies need to prioritize, focus on their most important functions and be willing to cut and streamline bureaucracies and programs so as to accomplish as much as possible at the least cost to the public. I have no use for administrators who threaten to cut their most important programs as a ploy to avoiding cuts in their budgets.

Arches National Park

Saturday morning the kiddies and I arose at 5 am, met David Taylor at 6 and headed for Moab. Court and Rob have so enjoyed the parks in southern Utah and wanted to pay a return visit. Arches was a new experience for Whit and me. We missed Anna and family but did the best we could. Our morning's hike took us to Delicate Arch. For more and better pix, see David's blog. (And Court's when she gets it up.) After lunch we stuck out in another area and saw a multitude of arches.

This is Dark Angel.

Kids on a fin.

It was a long but very enjoyable day. At the end, I felt like I'd gotten more exercise in the last ten days than in the previous six months! Good for me, huh?

Utah Skiing

After Phoenix, I flew to SLC. Had a couple of good days to visit with Mom and Dad. I picked up Court and Rob on Wednesday, and we had a great day of hard skiing on Thursday. Then Whit flew in Thursday night, and we did it again on Friday. So I got to enjoy a couple of days at Snowbird with my kiddies. (I swear they were trying to kill me!) I forgot to bring my camera, so all I got were a few Iphone pix. I do love the snow and the mountains!

Whit & Rob, in case you can't tell.

Arizona

This year's ACTEC meeting was in Phoenix. I took advantage of the opportunity to get a little exercise and see a bit of the desert. Thursday afternoon, I joined a group for a bike ride out to Camelback then around a loop. The two and a half hour ride about did me in!

That evening, we had a dinner with centerpieces shown below. The card struck me as a whole new level of PC.

For Saturday, I had signed up for a hike in a desert preserve in Scottsdale. Another fun desert experience -- and more needed exercise! The temperature was a bit on the warm side -- mid-80s -- while I was there, so I drank a lot of water.

Good fun, but still prefer green to brown!

Recent Reads

Herewith a few comments on books I've read recently. You won't find any fiction here (although some may argue differently) -- just history, biography and political commentary. The saddest part is that I forget so much of what I read. I enjoy the books as I'm reading them, but afterwards I can't remember much about them.I just finished this one that friends gave me for Christmas. Figured I'd better read it quickly before it became dated. It's not a rant, as the title might suggest. It might have been better titled "What Makes Obama Tick" or "The Roots of President Obama's Political Philosophy." The book is a thoughtful attempt to analyze and rationalize President Obama's positions on various international and domestic issues into a coherent political philosophy. D'Souza concludes that Obama cannot be understood as a traditional liberal -- too many liberal issues haven't seemed to evoke the support or passion that would have been expected. Rather he believes he is best explained as an "anti-colonialist," having taken on the "dreams of his father." D'Souza quotes extensively from Obama's own writings and makes an interesting case that although he was abandoned first by his father, then by his mother, Obama sought a personal identity in the father he hardly knew, but who was idealized by his mother.

I enjoyed Palin's book -- other than a few slow parts where she enumerates friends and others that mean nothing to me. I wanted to hear her side of the story, as most of what I've read/seen has been the SNL version of her and other such caricatures. I thought she made credible explanations of such events as the Katie Couric interview and her decision to resign from the governorship. Ready to be president? Not my first choice. But she seems to have shown more leadership than, for example, the recent governors of Arkansas (both president and candidate), having taken on corruption in her own party, Big Oil and pork barrel spending in the little over two years she spent in the Governor's office. And she's clearly no fool.

My other thought as I read the account of the VP campaign was how frustrating it must be to be continually subjected to the direction of the President's campaign manager. I had been disappointed in Lieberman during his campaign, feeling he had prostituted himself on many issues. Now I can imagine he was simply doing what many a VP candidate has had to do, namely, do what he is told, not necessarily by the Presidential candidate himself, but by his campaign managers.

I enjoyed this first volume of Morris's Roosevelt biography. A very thorough treatment -- 775 pages gets you though the election of 1901 and Teddy's first 43 years of life. TR was an aristocrat -- not really one of us. Never worked for a salary except while in political office. Otherwise, he wrote biographies or rode the range in South Dakota where he had bought a ranch with a portion of his inheritance. Very driven -- initially to overcome his physical weaknesses, but continuing with every endeavor. He had a strong personality and seemed to dominate those around him. He began his political career in the NY State Legislature at 23 years of age. He was appointed a U.S. civil service commissioner and, later a NY City police commissioner, each time resigning after a couple of years to do something else. He was eager for war with Spain and resigned as Asst. Secretary of the Navy to take a commission in the Army and pursue his dream of fighting for his country. He had no fear in battle. Two more volumes to go, but I needed a break.

So where's the best place to live?

Looks to me like Idaho is definitely up there. Virginia looks good if you don't ride a motorcycle! Iowa might keep me feeling young, but Maine might help me feel superior. Kansas and Georgia look like the lands of opportunity for Docs. Where to go?

Winter in Waimea

Snow again Friday night -- light, but down a ways. Looks like more tonight. Hope so. Love winter!