Cracking eggs and tearing down the hen house

“What do you think of all the turmoil coming out of Washington,” my friend asked while we were making coffee before church. “It’s a real mess,” I responded, not really wanting to engage in a political discussion in a house of worship. “I never thought Trump would do so much so fast,” she concluded.

I didn’t respond further. Why so many are surprised? Many of us tried to warn about Project 2025 and even though Trump claimed he didn’t know anything about it, the 900-page game plan is becoming reality.

Voters were obviously worried more about the price of eggs than the character of the person who would lead our country. Since January 20^th, Maga types are pass off all the turmoil by rationalizing, “if you want to make an omelet you’ve got to break a few eggs.” You can’t make big change by just doing the same-old, same-old.  

Speaking of eggs, Trump promised he was going to bring down the cost of those eggs as soon as he took office. In December a dozen eggs cost $4.16, up from $3.60 in November. In January those eggs cost $4.95 a dozen and are projected to increase another 41 percent this year. How’s that working out for everyone?

DOGE, the so-called department of government efficiency is running amuck -  slashing and burning almost everything, firing people without regard to what they do. Then, as often as not, they have to restore services and re-hire people they just laid off. If DOGE really wants to provide a valued and lasting service, why don’t they take on our do-little congress? It could use some shaking up.

It came as no surprise that governments across the country caught “DOGE Fever.” Our North Carolina legislature has been summoning cabinet leaders and ranking officials to appear before them to answer questions about what their agencies do, how they go about doing it, how they benefit people and how can they economize. House Speaker Destin Hall has created a new House Select Committee on Government Efficiency.

Might I suggest a more critical use of our legislature’s time would be to strategize how state government, our universities, hospitals, and other public services are going to function without the $1 billion or more in funding cuts from agencies like the Departments of Education, Pell Grants, Transportation, Health and Human Services, the VA, NIH and research projects we appear certain to lose.

Most of us agree the federal government needs to work better, spend less, reduce red tape and provide better customer services. But destroying the hen house (using the egg metaphor once again) is creating more problems than it is solving.

Our state has made many thrusts to improve efficiency, cut costs or improve services through the years. GovOps (the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations), the PEP (Program Evaluation Committee), Governor McCrory’s GEAR (Government Efficiency and Reform) initiative and the 2017 Results First initiative, among others, have produced some changes but have stopped short of making significant lasting results.

Virtually no one is around who can remember back to 1991, when a similar mood to effect savings and improve government efficiency resulted in the hiring of Peat Marwick to do a statewide examination of all state agencies and programs. Called GPAC (Government Performance and Audit Committee), it spent millions of dollars and 2 years developing a comprehensive study. A big hoopla heralded the release of the report, followed by pledges from state leaders that major changes were forthcoming. There were some achievements, but not nearly so many or as meaningful as had been touted. Today, GOOGLE can’t even find stories lauding the results of GPAC.

Why aren’t big change initiatives more impactful? It’s complicated – not a satisfactory answer, but a truthful one. Self-preservation is one reason. The minute an agency or program is attacked or threatened supporters come out of the woodwork to preserve their jobs, their pet projects or traditions. There are always some who cite examples of the good that’s been done or the ill that will result when a program or jobs are cut. Lobbying is intense and lawmakers, who make a lot of noise about wanting change, tend to back away when threatened by losing lots of votes or campaign contributions.

Change is difficult. And to make real change you can’t just cut something and expect widespread support. Selling change requires a plan and promise for how things will be better. Changemakers are better tearing down than rebuilding.

But the biggest reason why big changes are seldom made in government is because reformers try to change too much too fast. They never learn. Frederick Hartmann, longtime political science professor at the Naval War College, repeatedly admonished his students: “Never take on more enemies than you can handle at the time.”

We strongly suspect the President and our legislature will be forced to learn Hartmanns’ Law.

Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@carolinabroadcasting.com