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Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS The 5 100 billion sflory flhe networks don'tf fell By Richard L. Lesher, President Chamber of Commerce of the United States Donald Lambro, a reporter for the United Press International, has just written a book that is must reading for every American taxpayer. It's called "Fat City: How Washington Wastes Your Taxes," and Lambro spent more than three years researching it, digging up information about wasteful, mismanaged federal programs, and countless others that are either totally ineffective or outdated. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with him on the Chamber's weekly radio program, "What's the Issue?" Lambro says no taxpayer can wander through the maze that is official of-ficial Washington without concluding that we have more government than we need, more than we can afford, and certainly more than the American people want. Nevertheless, as he researched this problem and discovered its staggering proportions-he proportions-he estimates that through waste alone, the federal government squanders $100 billion in tax money each year-he was shocked to see the news media virtually ignoring it. Indeed, one of the questions he asks is this- "When was the last time you can remember a network news program doing a documentary or a special on unnecessary and wasteful federal spending... When was the last time an American news magazine devoted its cover to the story?" To those who say any cut in federal spending would take food out of the mouths of the poor and throw old ladies out in the snow, Lambro replies: "What we're talking about are tens of billions of dollars in unnecessary programs which I detail in this book, everywhere from $100,000 a year we spend on the masseurs in the Capitol gynmasiums, to $8 million to a U.S. travel agency, to three-quarters of a billion dollars a year we spend to provide cut-rate groceries for retired military men who are in second career jobs. "This is the kind of waste we're talking about. And if we get'rid of that, neither the national welfare or the national security would be harmed. There would be more money left in the pocketbooks of the American wage earner, and we'd have a little bit more money to put in those programs that are truly necessary." Why is this waste not being eliminated? Lambro cites two specific reasons. First, Congress is not doing a proper job of oversight. He notes that the subcommittee hearings, where the oversight should be taking place in the form of tough interrogations officials, are normally atte more than two or three ut r.) Congress. Sometimes, , member, the chairman, is p, But Lambro also points his re the Administration, which to bold initiatives and then ' Ho deliver. He devotes a chap, rec book to examining Presidet 1 pledge to reduce the number, its agencies from roughly l,9ootr" pul than 200. Lambro told me: Fir "When we really boiled itc lea get down to 80 agencies tha fac ministration says have beej;K. Now, we looked at those m Ci and found that.. .the over. Ca majority of them were n, bill hidden, if you like, into 1 A01 newly created programs. ' rec things that have disappear?,silt budget are the titles of these (S The functions are still being bv The employees are still tt r program is still there." aln Result? Less than a dozen , 14 invisible, little offices have:e' minated. By every citer: or government has grown. The rec up by 63,000 since Gerald iDe office. The commitment to De spending remains a hollow rr8 for Donald Lambro's book pe much needed service of trans debate on federal sper.l a; generalizations to specifics. I; , e taxpayers with detailed la: f.v where and how their rnone; E wasted. This is precisely tk information the publics! receiving systematically froc as media. The fact that appare T not, however, only makes vbill bro's exhaustive effort alleo worthwhile. We; and to |