What We Focus On:
Budget
Doing What Works means a government that delivers bang for the buck—whether spending comes in the form of direct outlays or tax expenditures. Waste must not be tolerated. But reckless budget cuts and arbitrary spending caps are also dangerous. Programs should be evaluated for effectiveness, and any budget cuts should be conducted with a scalpel, not an axe.
Tax Expenditures
Doing What Works means subjecting more than $1 trillion in annual tax breaks to the same level of scrutiny as programs that spend taxpayer money directly. Exclusions, deductions, and credits targeted toward specific taxpayers or activities are effectively a form of government spending, which is why they're known as "tax expenditures." They should be evaluated for results. Those that don't serve important public purposes should be scrapped. Those that aren't cost effective should be reformed. All tax expenditures should be integrated into the budget process and made more transparent to all taxpayers.
Government Reform
Doing What Works means a government that squeezes out operational waste and effectively implements policy directives. The public sector can dramatically boost productivity if political leaders prioritize management and operational issues. Officials should set ambitious high-priority goals, track progress toward achieving them, and make decisions based on data and evidence.
Domestic Policy
Doing What Works means applying a relentlessly evidence-driven approach to all areas of domestic and foreign policy, including energy, economic competitiveness, health care, and education. No matter the area, we should invest in critical government programs that work well, and reform or cut those that are ineffective, redundant, or low priorities.
Featured Content
Improving Customer Service at the Federal Government:
Gadi Dechter examines the Government Customer Service Improvement Act to highlight its strengths and suggest further steps to boost confidence in our government.
The American Community Survey Is Under Attack:
The short-sighted vote in the House of Representatives to eliminate the American Community Survey is an antibusiness vote against informed government, writes Kristina Costa.
Managing Taxpayer Risk:
John Griffith and Richard Caperton assess the federal government's record in handling risks to taxpayers in its loans and loan guarantees.
Insourcing:
Pratap Chatterjee explains how insourcing can not only save money but can also improve services to the taxpayer if done wisely.
How Sunlight Can Improve Federal Contracting:
A single, streamlined database that tracks fraud, waste, and abuse in federal government contracts will help save taxpayers money and reward good companies, writes Pratap Chatterjee.
Better Auditing for Better Contracting:
Pratap Chatterjee outlines the different reasons audits by the Defense Contract Audit Agency sometimes fail, what’s been done to correct these failures in the past, and what should be done in the future.
Slow Progress Toward a Representative Federal Workforce:
James Hairston and Vanessa Cárdenas argue that the federal government must do more to increase the number of people of color, particularly Hispanics, throughout its workforce.