Theft at the Public Till
Information provided in such instances is available to the public and the press frequently disseminates the material far and wide. Many Americans concerned with families and privacy have, as a result, turned down public service offers. Not that ethics regulations should be scrapped. They’re de- signed, for instance, to prevent federal workers from being influenced by private sector contractors who promise postgovernment jobs and to halt the spin of the revolving door, the phenomenon of federal employees leaving the government for the private sector and its higher salaries, only to return to the government at a more senior position, and then again depart for still higher pay in industry or consulting. Clearly, it is in Uncle Sam’s interest to find a middle ground. To be sure, a revolving door in Washington promotes instability and the notion that government jobs are available for personal ag- grandizement. Yet such agencies as NASA, the Defense Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency are harmed by the strict regulations that scare away candidates for their senior positions. Overly strict regulations suggest that federal employees are not to be trusted, especially when only a handful of career and political executives seek to gain unfair personal advan- tage from their jobs. What’s more, there is much to be gained from transfer- ring knowledge and skills between the private and public sectors. Creating strict walls between government and industry, including federal contractors, denies both sides opportunities to share information and technology and sows distrust and animosity. This is an especially critical point for such technology driven agencies as the Pentagon, the Energy Department, and the National Institutes of Health. Government has long been criticized for risk-avoidance behavior and organizational stagnation-both situations could be remedied through broader interaction with business, industry, and the rest of the private sector.
3. Fix the Rules of Congress.
Within the Congress, many rules allow complexity to govern un- checked. For example, we must stop tolerating non-germane amendments in the legislative process. Eliminate the ability of a bill to address more than
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