75-01-B4
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Bureaucrats
TranscriptWashington seems to be in the process of borrowing an idea from the emperors of China. I'll be right back. You may wonder why the federal bureaucracy grows and grows, when you as a taxpayer see so little in results for your money. The answer lies in one word: regulations. When Congress passes a bill, that bill carries with it language which in effect says the agency implementing this bill will adopt such regulations as it feels are necessary, thus it falls to the bureaucrats whether they work in carpeted offices or dimly lit cubbyholes, to see that the intent of Congress is carried out. The intent of Congress is a matter of opinion, of course, and that causes a problem. Now, if you break a law you're guaranteed your day in court and you're presumed to be innocent and unless and until it can be proved that you're guilty. If you break one of those bureaucrat-designed regulations, however, you're guilty as charged unless you can prove you're innocent. The more Congress tries to manage our lives for us, the more bureaucrats there are to do the regulating. Today, one out of every six American workers works for government. The number has risen from 10 million in 1964 to nearly 15 million today. that's a 50 percent increase in just 10 years and if you think these workers are slaving away at low level salaries, consider the fact that in the last 12 years, federal white-collar workers have gotten 14 across-the-board pay increases, including the recent one granted by Congress over the president's objection, and because these workers have the protection of civil service they tend to be kept on whether or not they perform efficiently. All of this adds up to an ominous sign. We seem to be breeding a group of elitists who really rule America. One news magazine recently called the federal bureaucrats, quote "The New Mandarins" unquote, likening them to the elite bureaucracy which controlled china for centuries in the service of its emperors. To bear this out, the Tax Foundation, an independent research organization notes that in just the five years between 1968 and 1973 the number of white-collar workers in the five lowest pay grades in federal government dropped by some 15 percent, while those in the top five pay grades increased by nearly the same amount. Although there are conspicuous exceptions the average civil servant tends not to be inventive. According to a management consultant interviewed by the United States News and World Report he said, quote, "In general those who seek a post in the federal bureaucracy are not basically creative. They are group-oriented and low-risk takers. By 10 am, they've got their fingers hooked around a coffee cup and they're on one speed, slow." unquote. Well, now this may seem a harsh judgment, but there's no doubt more than a kernel of truth in it. When I first became governor of California and we found that a vigorous program of cut, squeeze, and friend was essential to stop the runaway cost and growth of government. We put a freeze on hiring and let personnel levels and departments drop by attrition. When I left Sacramento eight years later, we had virtually the same number of employees we had at the beginning but workloads had increased by as much as two-thirds. Government workers can increase their productivity but it won't happen unless Congress and the administration force them to by reducing the number of workers through attrition and by cutting out wasteful procedures and that won't happen unless we, the citizens, raise a big enough ruckus about the mushrooming size of the bureaucracy. If you think inflation fighting should begin with Washington, setting a good example, today'd be a good day to tell your Congressman about it. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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