The great American waltz; & If a program proves ineffective or inefficient, the accepted solution is AAP—Add Another Program.

The game begins

By Sam M. Griffin
The (Bainbridge) Post-Searchlight
February 8, 2005

He didn’t coin the phrase, but the late Tip O’Neill made “all politics is local” a household phrase that comes to haunt us as budget proposals—especially cuts—are on the table.

It’s one thing for politicians to shout alarm at the size of the deficit and cry for responsible spending—and quite another when the ax looms over a local project. The president has proposed a $2.57 trillion budget with enough cuts to agitate liberals and conservatives alike, targeting, he says, programs that don’t efficiently achieve their aims. That’s where the row really begins.

An unwritten rule in federal bureaucracy, dating back before the Medes and the Persians, is: “Old Programs Never Die.” If a program proves ineffective or inefficient, the accepted solution is AAP—Add Another Program.

Names, descriptions and stated purpose do not an efficient program make—but that won’t stop the demagoguing. It’s already begun. Democrats have denounced the budget across the board; while Republicans are being more discrete, trying to save specifics important at home. It’s the great American waltz.