> Save Your Government Money
and Keep Half for Yourself
November 15, 2007

Save Your Government Money and Keep Half for Yourself If a citizen discovers waste and presents a solution that ends the waste, and the government institutes, that citizen is entitled to 50% of the saving derived by the government for twelve months.

For the last one hundred years elected and appointed officials have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are incapable of investing the citizens' money and putting it to good use.

The statement, "the government shall be administered in the most economic and efficient methods possible," is not even a remote possibility as there is no incentive for government to be so, nor is there any incentive for the citizens to discover waste and eliminate it.

There are good people in government both elected and appointed who condemn this massive waste, but they are powerless to fight a system that rewards waste. This same scenario exists for government contractors where they see massive waste but are powerless to act. These good citizens working within government, whether elected appointed, or contractors can lead the way.

The economic ramifications of creating an efficient government are enormous. Unbalanced budgets can become balanced and external debt can be paid down or off with no increase in taxes - followed by a reduction in actual taxes. This efficiency will also cause the dollar to rise in value and interest rates to fall as debt is retired and investment dollars are redeployed throughout the economy.

This massive redistribution of wealth to the citizens will create the largest wealth creation phenomena in the history of civilization and will be permanent, as cash and not debt will fuel it.

The United States will once again economically reinvent itself as it did when the economy shifted from an agrarian based society to the industrial age, and then again when it shifted from industry to the information age.

The way to start is to ask a few simple questions.

Can you get a full accounting from your town, county, state or federal government office of all of the assets purchased and the current inventory? What was paid for each item, the invoice for the item, where and when the items were delivered, who used the items, the associated costs of using the inventory and what purpose the item serves? Can you review the general ledger, time sheets and invoices of your town, county, state or country?

Getting answers to these basic questions are so hard because most of our elected and appointed officials have no idea. Promises to control government spending are impossible to attain, as there are no controls in place. Getting a full accounting of any government balance sheet, income statement, and cash flows is, in most cases, impossible as the officials have no will or desire to ever share this information with the citizens.

The government's activities and finances must be open, transparent and accessible to both regular public auditing and any citizen at anytime. The government must stop squandering its tax revenues, whether it is the purchase of goods and services or the direct employment of citizens. If a citizen discovers waste and presents a solution that ends the waste and it is instituted by the government, that citizen is entitled to 50% of the saving derived by the government for twelve months, businesses must be prohibited from this activity.

All expenditures must be measured as to how that expenditure helps the government attain the mandate of keeping the citizenry safe and advancing civilization to the very best of its ability. If the expenditure is found not to support these goals it is to be eliminated.

The elected officials should welcome the citizen's desire to engage in direct participation in their government. If you meet any resistance instituting this process the elected officials are not representing the citizens and are either incompetent or corrupt and in some cases both.

If either corruption or incompetence is present the elected officials and their appointed officials will claim the need to study the idea and hold secret meetings out of the public view to discuss the idea. If this happens you have just discovered the elected and appointed officials have a need for the citizens to be ignorant of how their money is being spent.

Don't rush to judgment and assume all government officials are corrupt and incompetent as they are not. These people have been working within a system that does not permit them to ferret out waste and can be harshly punished for trying to do so. Many officials both elected and appointed truly desire to help civilization advance. They just have not been working in conditions that are conducive to it. They are not to blame. They too, are citizens and wish to live in a better country.

But other officials who squander or steal the citizens money will employ their time honored method of harming the citizens by trying to delay any proactive action as long as possible with the hopes of extinguishing the desires of the citizens.

The reason for this is always the same, the citizens' assets are being squandered or stolen and most likely both. You will find that the most basic record keeping and cash and inventory controls are lacking. You will find policies that trigger spending that no prudent person would ever do with their own money.

No matter how well intentioned or popular a person is - if they lack the mental acuity to understand the value of employing and immediately instituting methods that are as economic and efficient as possible, this indicates that they do not possess the intellect required to hold public office and should be replaced as soon as possible.

If the officials are corrupt they have no value to anyone other than other corrupt individuals and are the citizens' enemies as they have decided to steal from the citizens to fulfill their own needs.

If either condition is the case demand the resignations of the elected officials who are either incompetent or corrupt and replace them with ones who are not, using the Collaborative Democracy Candidate Framework.

Step 1:
Go to your municipal meeting and propose that an ordinance be written and immediately approved that institutes the process of saving the municipality money and rewards the citizens(s).

Use the Collaborative Democracy Framework as your guide. Ask others to assist you in this process. Get the elected officials to commit to the ordinance. Question everything - do not give up. If they push back – do the same!

Guard against any language, technique or any other thing included into the process that would cause the process to fail and fall into disrepute. In the event that there is an opening for abuse close it as soon as it is found.

Require that all claimants be lawful residents of the political sub-division as this fosters citizen collaboration on a wide scale and offers local solutions to local challenges.

Step 2:
After the ordinance has been approved, start the process of reviewing your government and its expenses. Look for inflated expenses, wasteful methods and unnecessary spending.

Present your elected officials and fellow citizens with a well-constructed description of the waste and the solution you propose. Show them the current expense and project the new costs associated with your proposal. Include how this improvement will work and why it will work. Use the Collaborative Democracy Framework as your guide. If you lack some of the skills to adequately build a case, enlist the help of other citizens in your community. Present it as a group and share the rewards and satisfaction of success.


Check back here for information about successful outcomes as other citizens share their experiences.