With federal spending expanding 9 percent in 2006 alone, lawmakersare finally taking up the government waste commission bills (H.R.5766 and H.R. 3282) authored by Reps. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and KevinBrady (R-TX). Both lawmakers should be commended for taking aim atthe outdated, failed, and duplicative programs that have beenlayered on top of one another for decades. To be effective, agovernment waste commission must be specifically designed toovercome the special interest logrolling that has protectedwasteful spending for years. The proven model for doing this is theBase Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission, which has been usedto close obsolete military bases since the 1980s. Unfortunately,neither the Tiahrt nor the Brady bill includes the components thatmade BRAC so successful. Lawmakers seeking budget savings shouldstrengthen these bills.
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