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The first reform is to government. Congress must reform its budget process and engage in other legislative reform. Government efficiency and accountability must be improved by eliminating improper payments, consolidating information technology infrastructure, streamlining government supply chains, and reducing energy use. The government must move to shared services for mission-support activities and monetize its assets, for example, selling surplus real estate. The government must implement an overall 4% reduction-in-force and a targeted personnel reduction-in-force at the Department of Defense. It must implement business process reform and increase transparency.
Government must benchmark its employment policies to the private sector. It must restore genuine authority to management. Conflicts of interest with people who move between the public and private sectors must be handled as best as possible. Public worker compensation must be disclosed at an individual level for top level persons and in aggregated form for everyone else.
The federal regulatory system must be reviewed and revamped. The federal government should implement an “E” architecture including, for example, digital signatures. Opportunities for the capture of regulatory agencies by the regulated community must be mitigated. Federal consumer safety oversight should be strengthened. The U.S. should adopt international regulatory standards when possible.
State and local governments must reform building and zoning codes. They must reform regulations in the electricity and communication sectors. They must reform their regulatory systems and their legal systems along with the federal government by, for example, ending over-criminalization, only using civil asset forfeiture with sufficient evidence, and replacing the “War on Drugs” with the “Struggle Against Substance Abuse.” Governments must stop subsidizing favored businesses with tax breaks and other subsidies. Governments must restrict their use of eminent domain. They must reform their accounting for retirement, health care and other unfunded liabilities. Governments must conduct regular audits of government agencies, reform zoning and building codes, remove energy incentives and mandates, reform occupational regulations, and reform title insurance.