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Return to Article: Budget chief says administration is 'changing the culture in Washington'

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  junglegirl you are spot on until Americans band together and let our leadership (both parties) know we will not stand by and let them give our childrens future away. As said before you want to fix this Washington bring us some jobs so we can feed our families and pay the taxes so you guys can spend. Isnt that how its suppose to work? The fewer people working the less taxes you can collect hows that going to work for Washington?

  LC Posted November 17, 2009 2:06 PM
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  Why is this difficult America needs JOBS!! plain and simple. 8 dollars and hour will work Washington but fuel cant be 3 bucks and bread cant be 2 bucks get it!!!! If this is all you plan to do is drive agenda's that have no real value to the American family then prepare yourselves for the up coming elections YOU TOAST, OUT OF HERE!! Americans will have to go with the lesser of the 2 evils and our leadership of yesterday and today or I should say lack of leadership is very disappointing. I have news for Washington NO ONE IS WORKING TO PAY THE TAXES SO YOU CAN SPEND LIKE CHILDREN IN A CANDY STORE. Talk about something that cant sustain itself why arent you folks in Washington reversing some of the laws that have let our industrial base leave WE NEED WORK NOT A HAND OUT. Now get busy and bring us jobs. Now thats a culture I think all Americans will get behind. You want to be a star Mr. President put this country back to work with real jobs that our childrens children will work one day. Politics as usual are over borrowing money and pouring into society is not the fix doing what our leadership of the past has done and create law that only benefits the wealthy will not be tollerated today how about work how about real jobs now theres a thought stop doing for your buddies and do this for our childrens future. If you do I swear you will like the man you see in the mirror in the morning.

  LC Posted November 12, 2009 11:11 AM
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  I can't believe how short the American memory is. The republicans started deregulation 25 years ago that evenually, along with pure greed caused our wallstreet, manufacturing and healthcare meltdowns. Granted, the susequent generation of reds and blues did nothing to stop it. Americans inherited the bulk the mess last year. Not Obama. Americans need to get themselves out of this mess by unifying instead of playing the partisan political games that we see on TV and in the Whitehouse. We have more that we agree on with our neighbors than disagree on. Capitalize on that. Stop complaining and unify-----use your energy to come together and we will overcome. That is the answer.

  Junglegirl Posted November 12, 2009 10:12 AM
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  Oh, please! Does this administration truly believe Americans are this stupid. Yes, they were stupid to swallow "change you can believe in." But once bitten, twice shy. We may be stupid, but we learn quickly from our mistakes.

  DK Posted November 10, 2009 10:42 AM
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  Changing culture? please! Borrow money from China we cannot repay and throwing it out the window to "claim" he is stimulating the economy. Not sustainable or accountable. Oh yes, lets not forget its Bush's fault. Wait he is not in office anymore...I forgot. 10% unemployment and Administration has nothing to say. Expanding the war that democrats demanded an exit timetable for, Administration has nothing to say. Non-existent manufacturing base, Administration has nothing to say. Cash for Clunkers, reward irresponsible consumers with money to buy another foreign truck and exclude Americans that were prudent and made responsible economical fuel purchases, Administration has nothing to say. America obviously in decline, Administration has nothing to say.

  DJT Posted November 10, 2009 9:22 AM
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  48 TRILLION in new debt since taking office so question barak is defining waste and a culture of spend until it hurts

  dan m ketter Posted November 5, 2009 8:48 PM
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  Putting some memos out is something OMB is very used to doing. There is no proof that OMB has any willingness, authority or agencies have any motivationto reduce costs by the supposedly $40 billion. Instead of change, only thing that comes through is the typical lack of understanding by policy wonks at OMB who don't know anything about operational change. And Orszag is one to talk. The administration has shown no real appetite to propose any real measures to cut health care costs...an area that Orszag is known for. Bottom line...a lot of talk...no results.

  Reality Check Posted November 4, 2009 11:17 AM
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  Well I guess that proves it both parties just want blame each other for this mess. Pull your heads out and get on with fixing the root of this problem JOBS both parties have fed us down this path over the years and it blows my mind that my leadership who made decisions to lighten/create laws and ship our blue collar jobs overseas figured this would be good for America. What the heck are they thinking 30 years ago my father told me "here we go they are going to bust the unions drive our labor overseas and the American public wil see a decline in their lifestyle." He said what do you want to give up your car your house something will have to go in time we can not compete with folks that live in mud huts and get paid 2 dollars american a month. Well here we are 30 years later and a man who is no politician called it spot on. Our way of life has been attacked by those who have and are making these laws this has to stop while we have a country left. We can reach a point of no return and we are nearing that. The jobs shown that where created are stimulus jobs??? Again my father now in his 80s recently told me the jobs created today are no better then the faulty housing market of a few years ago it can not be sustained these jobs cant sustain themselves when the money dries up that job goes away we are not producing anything. Besides I dont personally know anyone who has received one thin dime of this so called stimulus money. We need jobs Washington not a hand out you have the unions on the ropes you keep messing around and the unions will find another avenue to unite the people and that will be the end of your world economy that both parties have been pushing for years. The world economy has been detramental to the American family but Washington is so disconnected to what is really happening out here they want to just increase everything when they should be bringing jobs back reducing what profits companies are making right now like a freeze on everything, I dont know what really to do its a mess, except next election if all I have to chose from is a Republican or a Democrat I will be writing my father in again as I have done for the last 3 presidential election at least I know I can trust him.

  LC Posted November 4, 2009 9:12 AM
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  Let's see, cut projects with private contractors which leads to putting more hardworking folks on the unemployment lines so there can be more money available to pay people who have made a "career" out of dropping out of school, experimenting with drugs, and becoming official couch potatoes. How's that for change you can believe in?

  ph Posted November 4, 2009 8:52 AM
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  Once again the change administration is claiming credit for something that is not happening. A true change to the culture in Washington will happen with Congress can't do earmarks then add them to bills that they know will pass and be signed. This will not happen because they see this as a method to get re-elected. If the unemployment is close to 10% and the estimate is that it will hit 10% and remain high for a long time...where's the change? Remember what the Democrats tossed out years ago? It's the economy, stupid, let's do something. New rules, less rules, more spending, and so doesn't change a thing!

  Bob Posted November 4, 2009 8:42 AM
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  I agree that the contracting system needs a major overhaul. In fact, I don't recall any time in my 30 plus years associated in one way or another with various military contracts where the cost was within an order of magnitude of the lower cost that could have been achieved if the parameters had been determined prior to putting the contract out for bids and then had remained unchanged until delivery of the finished product. I have never understood why there is such a resistance to the idea of letting people who WORK in a particular field determine the parameters for a contract. On the other issue - that of reducing Defense spending - as I recall, the oath of office for all our elected Federal officials includes words about 'protect and DEFEND the Constitution of the United States' as well as words about 'provide for the common DEFENSE'. I, for one, fail to see how reducing defense spending reconciles with that oath of office.

  Larry R. Doane Posted November 4, 2009 8:13 AM
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  Can the administration show ANY proof of how the "proposed federal acquisition reforms, which the administration has said will save $40 billion annually through the reduction of sole-source and high-risk contracts" will actually meet that savings figure???

  Or will it be like the made up "cost-savings" from performance-based contracting that, after years of claiming millions/billions in savings, OFPP admitted they couldn't prove any of them?

  I'm pretty confident it will be the latter. For example, one of the "risky" contract methods they mention is cost-reimbursement contracting - but those contracts are good tools in many cases, and in many situations where cost-reimbursement contracting makes the most sense firm-fixed price contracting is actually MORE risky, because contractors will inflate their costs to ensure they don't lose money.

  Joe Fed Posted November 4, 2009 12:11 AM