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On Tuesday, December 2, the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) opened its doors to its owners – the taxpayers – for the first time.  After six years of construction and countless revisions, what seemed like a never-ending project has finally reached completion.  While the CVC provides new services for visitors and a nice view of the Capitol, it is the $621 million price tag that has been making news. 

The House and Senate convened for the 111^th Congress facing a record budget deficit and are currently considering a massive “stimulus” spending package.  Now, more than ever, increased oversight of federal programs is essential to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent effectively.  Congress has for far too long failed to adequately perform its oversight responsibilities.  While holding more hearings would be helpful, this in and of itself is no guarantee that problems will be identified and corrected.  The Obama Administration has promised oversight of how the stimulus money is spent, including the establishment of a new “recovery” website, but that will only happen after hundreds of billions of tax dollars go out the door and only address that legislation.  The President has also appointed a chief performance officer in the White House.

Just five days after his historic election, President-elect Obama vowed to review every Executive Order signed by President Bush during the past eight years.  He made it clear that he intends to overturn some of them.

The President-elect should take his time during his review, as some Executive Orders are quite worthwhile.  For example, on June 30, 1982, President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12369, establishing the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, and asked private businessman J. Peter Grace to chair what has become popularly known as the Grace Commission.  One hundred and sixty-one top executives, assisted by 2,000 volunteers from the private sector, contributed more than $75 million worth of their time and resources to examine all major federal programs and agencies.  In January 1984, the Grace Commission’s work culminated in a 47-volume report containing 2,478 recommendations to save taxpayers $424.4 billion over three years.

With the election on November 4^th looming, both Presidential candidates have pledged to go through the budget line by line to find wasteful spending.  Whoever wins could save a lot of time by reading Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2008 Prime Cuts, a list of 700 recommendations that would save $27 billion on one year and $1.2 trillion over five years.  The new President will inherit a $455 billion deficit from fiscal year 2008 and be staring at a possible $1 trillion deficit for fiscal year 2009.  There’s no room for new programs and plenty of incentive to cut those that are ineffective, duplicative, or wasteful.