Self-Inflicted Wounds

As a partisan of the public sector, it pains me to see it in decline. Our democracy can only suffer if citizens think poorly of their government. And it's simply tragic that so many of the wounds are self-inflicted-as one can sense from reading this issue of Government Executive.

Here is one reason for slumping trust in government: Congress, and the president, are given to promising much more than can be delivered. The rhetorical flourish is often strong (There will be No Child Left Behind!), but delivery is much weaker. What is the public to think when this grandiose promise all of a sudden threatens to sanction many good schools? As Denise Kersten reports in this issue (page 60), the bureaucracy is left scrambling to backtrack on the promise.

Here's another reason: Laws enacted to address important problems almost inevitably fall victim to log-rolling and pork-barrel politics in Congress. Is it far short of scandalous that "home" turns out to be a strong ingredient in homeland security spending, as Charles Mahtesian observes in his Political World column (page 81)?

And there's the size-and-complexity problem, of which the IRS is a fine exhibit. Charged with collecting $1.8 trillion this year through an impenetrable tax code, IRS staff can hope to keep up only by relying on technology. But the job of modernizing infrastructure has proved extremely difficult, as Shane Harris writes. Todd Grams, pictured on our cover, is the latest David to tackle this Goliath (page 44), with the latest $8 billion technology overhaul. Let's wish him luck.

Then we have the ugly spectacle of agency as captive of special interests. How else to explain the Agriculture Department's reluctance to buck the beef lobby with mad-cow testing policies that would, at a minimum, allow producers to voluntarily test every cow sent to slaughter (page 52)?

And finally, accountability-the rallying cry of good-government mavens-is more a slogan than a reality, as Tom Shoop concludes in a tough look at the Iraqi prison scandal (page 82). Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski has mounted an unconscionable PR campaign to deflect culpability, reports Katherine McIntire Peters (page 23).

What's the answer? Well, a good start could be made if Congress would follow its better instincts by emptying the pork barrel, taking oversight seriously, and conducting or commissioning a thorough scrub of government programs. This last exercise could scrap enough weak programs to permit fuller funding of the remaining truly essential purposes.

Of course, not all the news is bad. As George Cahlink reports (page 68), the Navy is doing a terrific job of careful budgeting and staffing management, positioning itself for efficient and effective operations in the longer term.

In the Navy and elsewhere in government, many noble, selfless people achieve a lot of good. Many have fascinating careers. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor offers a great example. Her prescriptions for tempting the new generation to public service are found on page 79.