Alex Massie Alex Massie

Government Efficiency vs Cost of Government? Why not try both!

Hey ho, it’s the State of the Union speech tonight and as usual there’s no shortage of advice for President Obama. Via Steve Benen, here’s Ruy Teixeira:

Make no mistake: a more effective government is the public’s priority, not a smaller government. In a survey I helped conduct for the Center for American Progress’s Doing What Works government reform project, we found that, by a decisive 62 to 36 margin, the public said their priority for improving the federal government was increasing its efficiency and effectiveness, not reducing its cost and size. Significantly, we found an identical result among the independents in our survey.

I’m sure this is true just as I can quite believe that Teixeira has found that the deficit – a looming abstract fear that is still, in the end, an abstract concept for many people – does not rank high on people’s list of concerns. Nevertheless, this seems a false choice.

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