6.  Discuss your philosophy of and vision for the federal government in the 21st
Century—its structure, personnel, operations and functions.
A) What are the innovations you envision to modernize and restructure the federal
government in keeping with the governing principles you described in your response to question #5 above?

 

Mike Huckabee:

The federal government must be as small and efficient as possible.  We must

cut and consolidate by ruthlessly ferreting out unnecessary or duplicative functions and positions.  Appointees must be chosen entirely on their credentials and not their crony connections, they should inspire and raise the morale of those who work under them by their dedication and professionalism.  I strongly support reviving the line-item veto in a way that will pass constitutional muster.

A) What are the innovations you envision to modernize and restructure the federal government in keeping with the governing principles you described in your response to question #5 above.

I would always question whether some of the functions the federal government performs should be done by government at all and whether some of those functions that should be performed can be returned to the states and localities.  For example, if states want tougher standards to protect their chemical plants from a terror attack, I would not support the federal government pre-empting those standards.  I wouldn’t walk into the Oval Office and assume that the government I find is the government we should have.  I would always seek to eliminate and to consolidate.  I would have outside experts review each department because no cabinet secretary is ever going to tell me that his budget should be cut.   I would make certain that the government has the same resources as our top corporations – that the FBI, for example, finally has the state-of-the-art computer system that it needs to face 21st century threats.   

When Congress put FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security, they moved its director too far down the food chain.  I will restore FEMA to cabinet status, so that the Director reports directly to me.  I will reassess and strengthen the focus and mission of the Department of Homeland Security.  The Department brought together 180,000 people from 22 agencies.  Its size and structure are unwieldy and inefficient.  We must create a leaner structure with a passionate esprit de corps dedicated to identifying threats and foiling attacks.

I will fight to enact the Fair Tax, a simple tax on consumption, which would eliminate all existing federal taxes, personal and corporate, and eliminate the IRS.  The Fair Tax will reward productivity instead of punishing it.  The Fair Tax will lower the lifetime tax burden on all Americans:  single or married; working or retired; rich, poor or middle class – no more tax loopholes for those with high-priced lawyers and lobbyists, no more tax evasion by the underground economy.  The Fair Tax will take embedded corporate taxes out of the prices we pay, so everything we buy will be cheaper.

This reform is needed to make us competitive globally, so that instead of exporting our jobs and even whole industries, we will export our goods.  Other countries rebate taxes on their exports, giving their products an advantage of about 18% on the world market compared to our goods.  We are the square peg trying to fit into the round hole of international trade.  The rest of the world isn’t going to change – it’s time that we do.  Under the Fair Tax, trillions of dollars that have been moved offshore for tax reasons will come home.  American companies will be far less likely to move overseas and foreign companies will be far more likely to come here, hiring Americans to build and work in their new plants.  We can become the world’s tax haven.

John McCain:

I will begin by eliminating every program that infringes on the private sector.  Government should only spend money to serve a purpose that the private sector cannot, and that serves our Nation’s interest.

Every federal program will have goals and issue public progress reports on how well or poorly they met them. Government programs will be judged for the success they've had in meeting a need that people can't be expected to meet for themselves. If they're not giving Americans good value for their tax dollars, they will have to change or they will be out of business.

I believe it is essential to the nation's honor that we reform the way government is funded and structured, and to hold it accountable for its ability or inability to address the serious challenges of our time. I'll hold the agencies of the federal government accountable for the money they spend.   And I'll rely on the foundation of America – a free and informed citizenry – to help me. I will make every aspect of government purchases and performance transparent. Information on every step of contracts and grants will be posted on the Internet in plain and simple English.

Employees in the private sector know that if they don't do their job right they will lose their job. Competition and consequences are the driving force of excellence. Taxpayers deserve the same commitment to excellence from their employees.

There must be a new bargain with federal employees, one that is worthy of the American people and mindful that public service is a privilege and a responsibility not a right. The civil service has strayed from its reformist roots.  Employment is treated as an entitlement, good performance as an option and accountability as someone else's problem.  We must streamline our workforce, demand high standards of behavior, promote excellence at every level based on merit and accountability and not let good workers be crippled by the fine print of the latest union contract.

 

Ron Paul:

The federal government must return to its constitutional limitations.  It must not exercise any powers not authorized by the Constitution, and it should protect the liberties of all Americans.  Americans should be able to trust that the federal government will be efficient and responsible.  As president, I will lead the charge to give the American people a federal government they can be proud of. 

 

Mitt Romney:

The Federal government needs to be smaller, more accountable, more responsive and more transparent.  We need to improve the federal workforce and make it more productive and customer-focused.  The customer is the American people, and they have a right to expect responsive and customer-friendly service from federal employees, whose salaries are being paid through our citizens’ taxes.  We need to always remember that government exists to serve the people. 

I will lead a stem-to-stern review of federal programs and agencies, to identify areas of waste, duplication and inefficiency.  I will also work to give managers more authority on personnel moves, such as the hiring and firing authority that was given to managers when the Department of Homeland Security was created.  Promotions and pay increases should be based on productivity and job performance, not solely by length of service.  We need to change the system to attract and retain the best and brightest.  I will not accept cronyism or anything other than adherence to high ethical standards from government appointees and employees.  By removing layers of bureaucracy and creating a better managed federal workforce, we will be able to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. 

We should also question whether federal government is the best place for all existing programs.  Some of these programs may be more appropriately done in the private sector or by state and local government. 

Innovation is key to America’s prosperity and has kept our economy on the cutting edge of technology and productivity.  I believe we need to continually search for innovations to improve our federal government.  For example, in the private sector, a chief executive officer would never have almost 30 individuals reporting directly to the CEO, as the President of the United States does.  Therefore, I would explore the concept of instituting super-cabinet secretaries or a chief operating officer position to help better manage the Executive branch and hold our government to the highest standards of effectiveness. 

More effective management is a key to confronting the challenges America faces, whether in the war on terror or in responding to natural disasters or meeting the challenges of preparing our medical system for a rapid aging of our population.  I will use the management experience and skill-set I have developed in the private sector and in running the Olympics to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our federal government.  By creating a leaner, more responsive, and better organized federal workforce, we can give the American people the effective government they deserve. 

 

Fred Thompson:

Our federal government is outdated, inefficient, and wasteful.  It is often unable to perform even the most basic tasks our citizens expect.  It is not enough to want limited government; we must demand in addition an effective federal government.  Given the challenges our nation confronts, we can no longer afford to address 21st century challenges with an outdated approach to government.  A federal government unable to accomplish what it is supposed to do today will be hard-pressed to meet the challenges of tomorrow.  We must make the federal government more transparent, accountable, efficient, and effective.  We must be able to hire the best and the brightest and encourage technical innovation.  Most importantly, we must tackle head-on the problems of waste, fraud, and mismanagement.  As the former Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and the author of the highly regarded “Government at the Brink” report of 2001, no one is better positioned to address these challenges.

Our first challenge is to restore the people’s trust in the federal government.  We can achieve this goal by making government more transparent, telling Americans what works and what does not work in government.  Fully implementing federal law requiring full public disclosure of all government spending on contracts, grants, and earmarks is the first place to start.  We should also make information about the performance of every agency, office, program, budget, contract, grant, loan and transaction easily accessible to the public.

The next step is to focus on performance and results including compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act.  We must set clear priorities, refocus the work of the federal government on issues that require a national solution, and restore federalism and empower state and local governments.  We must then use performance budgeting for federal agencies and hold managers accountable for making agencies more efficient and effective, accomplishing agency missions, and achieving announced and measurable goals.  By actually holding managers accountable and enhancing transparency, we can take major strides towards restoring trust in government.

We must change the federal government’s civil service system to reflect a modern workforce.  In most government positions, everyone gets the same pay raise no matter how well or poorly they perform.  This system ultimately demoralizes good performers.  We need to bring to government the common principle that employee performance and results should be at the center of personnel practices and rewards.  We need to do a better job of hiring employees promptly, and removing poor performers.

The federal government needs to do a better job of deploying its limited resources.  We are living in a regulatory state.  To do a better job of regulating, we need to adopt legislation requiring agencies to rely on cost-benefit analysis in deciding what rules to issue and what the content of those rules should be.  The government should not be imposing huge burdens on American business for little return.

The federal government needs to do a better job of deploying information technology.  The private sector has made huge gains in productivity using new technology.  The federal government spends $65 billion annually on information technology.  We are not seeing the results for that amount of spending, much of which is being wasted (although no one knows how much).  Better recruiting, better rewards for high performers, better procurement practices and project management and oversight will bring benefits to the federal government and to the American people it serves.

Finally, we must do more to eliminate wasteful spending and fraud.  Many agencies still cannot pass an audit.  This year alone, federal agencies made $40 billion in improper payments.  On top of that figure, fraud costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more.  And then there are earmarks, which number in the thousands and include billions of dollars of pork-barrel spending.  We can go much further in eliminating improper payments.  We can require agencies to publish annual reports to account for their improper payments and demonstrate progress in eliminating them.  We must redouble our efforts to prosecute fraud by government employees, contractors, and beneficiaries of government programs by strengthening agency inspectors general and the Justice Department.  We must demand that all agencies be able to pass audits to account for the tax dollars they receive.  Congress needs to bring more transparency to the earmark process, and as President I will direct agencies not to fund earmarks that are not included in bills themselves but are only included in committee reports.  And we must hold appointees accountable for achieving these goals.  Things will change only when government managers and political appointees understand that there is a price to pay for failure.

 

Rudy Giuliani

As a matter of policy, Rudy Giuliani does not respond to questionnaires, but his campaign provided a letter summarizing his positions. Click the above link to read the letter.

 

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All responses are listed in alphabetical order. The American Conservative Union provides these responses for public information only. ACU neither endorses these candidates nor their responses.