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"Enlightened
statesmen will not always be at the helm."
--James Madison, Federalist No. 10
Following
major frauds in the private sector, the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act was put in place to ensure that
public corporations are held accountable.
Corporate attitudes towards fraud have changed
from regarding it as an inevitable nuisance to an
act that can be changed through proper controls
and oversight.
Unfortunately,
when it comes to government programs it is mostly
business as usual, particularly at the level of state
and local governments.
The
federal government has instituted some
accountability controls. Signed into law in 1978, the
Inspector General (IG) Act became a device for
unifying two distinct functions—audit and
investigation—into one unit.
The
IGs' accomplishments have surpassed initial
expectations. For example, the fiscal year 2002
Report to the President highlights the following
results: $64.9 billion in recommendations that
funds be put to better use; $3 billion in
questioned costs; and $4.6 billion in
investigative receivables and recoveries.
More
importantly, the IGs conducted 10,690 successful
criminal prosecutions the same year. Between
fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2002, the IGs
convicted approximately 28,000 criminals who had
been defrauding the government.
Virginia’s
state government has no outside or
quasi-independent elements for monitoring waste,
fraud, and abuse. Not only is there a total lack
of accountability to taxpayers, but the Good Ol'
Boys who run state government make sure that
legislation proposed to instill government
oversight does not see the light of day.
A
good case in point was the “State Inspector
General Act of 2004,” a bill (SB 370) introduced
by Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Centreville. It sought
to establish a new office that would be headed by
a State Inspector General appointed by the Governor
for a six-year term and confirmed by the General
Assembly.
Debate
over such a bill, as legislators sought to refine
its provisions, would have been understandable.
But SB 370 was referred to the Senate Finance
committee where it was left to die. Not one
Senator voted to bring this bill to the floor for
debate — effectively silencing any discussion
over government accountability.
Similar
bills have been introduced in the House of
Delegates, but none have been enacted into
law. Gov. Mark Warner even signed an
executive order in 2004 establishing the office of
Inspector General. Warner’s proposal had serious
shortcomings, as the IG would work for the
Governor and could not exercise any degree of
independence. Nonetheless, it was a start.
Unfortunately,
the only motivation for Warner’s executive order
was to gain the vote of one Republican House
member, who was teetering on voting for the 2004
tax increase. Once that legislator decided to vote
against the final package, Warner promptly forgot his
own proposal.
And
let us not forget the 2002 Wilder
Commission which found that more $750 million
in annual savings were achievable within two to
four years through streamlining government. Not
only was that report promptly shelved, but our
Governor and legislators saw fit to increase taxes
in 2004 rather than instill a degree of efficiency
and accountability in government operations.
The
message is pretty clear: Virginia is not keen on
instilling even a modicum degree of government
oversight and accountability.
That
is why I was surprised to see recently a candidate
campaigning on a platform of fiscal
responsibility. Greg Werkheiser, a Democrat who is
challenging Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, for the
House seat in the 42nd Delegate District, in his
“Blueprints for Progress, Part II”, calls for
“Fiscal Responsibility First.”
Democrats
are known for expanding government programs and
are not usually interested in imposing controls
that could interfere with their notion that
government should provide from cradle-to-grave. So
how does Werkheiser define fiscal responsibility?
He
accuses Del. Albo being fiscally irresponsible for
fighting against Gov. Warner’s 2004 budget. What
Werkheiser does not tell you is that Warner’s
budget called for the largest tax increase in the
history of our state and did nothing to bring any
semblance of fiscal responsibility to state
Government operations.
Only
in the delusional world of political spin, can a
call for more tax revenues in the face of
burgeoning budget surpluses be called an act of
fiscal responsibility. Greg Werkheiser needs to
read his own writings, where he’s quoting George
Washington calling for an “honest dialogue”
with the public.
Here’s
a quick lesson in Government and Politics 101,
Greg: Greater government spending does not equate
with fiscal responsibility.
Unfortunately,
Werkheiser’s views are apparently espoused by
many of our state legislators, who vote for higher
taxes and bigger government while portraying
themselves as fiscally responsible. At the same
time, they go out of their way to avoid holding
government programs accountable in any way.
As
long as these attitudes prevail, the likelihood of
implementing the necessary oversight over
government operations will remain a distant dream.
--
July 25, 2005
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