Overpaid Feds Inflating Housing Prices, Privatizing the VA and More Ideas From Presidential Hopefuls

This week saw new entrants to the 2016 presidential race and it also brought more details on one Democratic contender's vision of government.   

Hillary Clinton made a speech from New York City on Saturday to tell Americans what they already knew: she is running for president. In the speech, however, she outlined some specific policy items, including her views for overhauling federal agencies. One of the four key fights Clinton promised to win was “reforming our government and revitalizing our democracy so that it works for everyday Americans.”

She added: “Government is never going to have all the answers, but it has to be smarter, simpler, more efficient, and a better partner.”

The former secretary of State called on agencies to access “advanced technologies” so they can better serve their customers. She challenged the federal government to “catch up” with states and private enterprise, which can help “cut waste and streamline services.”

Jeb Bush officially launched his campaign this week in Florida, and proceeded on to Iowa to start stumping in the first-to-vote state. He made an interesting comment about federal employees on Thursday, blaming them for high housing prices in Washington, D.C. The federal government, he reasoned, inflated home prices because of the high salaries it pays its workforce. As Florida’s governor, Bush pushed to lower pay for government employees while employing more temporary workers who earned less and did not receive benefits.

In better news for federal employees, Bush also said sequestration cuts should be reversed, though it was unclear if he was referring strictly to the military side or to non-Defense spending as well.

Donald Trump also threw his hat into the ring this week. The billionaire real estate mogul has not yet commented on whether he will bring his “you’re fired” trademark to the federal workforce, but he has previously discussed his desire to downsize the government.

“Common sense tells us that the two basic principles of governing should work anywhere they are applied,” Trump wrote in his book The America We Deserve. Government should stop doing things it doesn’t do well -- “A list of things government doesn’t do well is a very long list,” he said -- while “providing for public convenience.” Trump then waded into improving performance management.

“Then judge its efforts by visible, definable results and fine-tune as needed,” he wrote.

One area Trump apparently places on the list of things government does not do well is health care for veterans, as he has flirted with the idea of privatizing the Veterans Health Administration. Earlier in 2015, he laid out a not-so-specific plan for fixing the embattled Veterans Affairs Department.

“I would straighten out that mess like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference.

(Image via Albert H. Teich / Shutterstock.com)