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Time to reshuffle the cardsBy Seymour Klierly Hope and change is so four years ago. This year, President and candidate Obama is all about consolidation and reorganization. Or so he says. Earlier this month, Obama gave a few remarks on how he ran for office pledging to make the federal government leaner, smarter and more consumer-friendly. He went on to say the current set-up of government was organized for the 20th century but the American economy has fundamentally changed into the 21 century. Among the examples Obama cited were the more than one dozen agencies dealing with food safety, six departments focusing on trade and five different entities dealing with housing. President--or should I say candidate--Obama used the speech to ask Congress to give him authority that past presidents have had in order to streamline and reform the Executive Branch. This special power was first granted to President Herbert Hoover back when the Great Depression was in its infancy in order to meet the immediate challenges of the growing crisis. For the next 52 years, up until Congress took the power away from President Ronald Reagan in 1984, presidents were able to do as they wished with agencies and departments in the Executive Branch by submitting their proposal to Congress who then had to approve or deny the request on a simple up or down vote. If given the power to do so, Obama would begin the retooling of federal government by doing away with the Department of Commerce and folding six trade and business agencies (Commerce Department's core business and trade functions, Small Business Administration, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency) into the Small Business Association. Modernizing and streamlining the Executive Branch would save taxpayers $3 billion over the next decade. More than 2,000 employees will be lost through attrition. As a way to kick-start his plan, Obama has chosen to elevate the Small Business Administration's administrator to a cabinet-level position. Additionally, the Weather Service provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is currently housed in the Department of Commerce, will be moving to the Department of Interior. The Census Bureau, also part of Commerce, will be moving to the Department of Labor. Though not directly tied to any of the current reorganization plans, streamlining plans from the past have included moving USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service to the Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration. However, that plan has often been discounted because FSIS inspectors must be present in every meat slaughtering facility in the country and because of the much larger budget given to FSIS. Add in that FDA spends much more time dealing with drugs and devices rather than food, it might be a bigger battle than President Obama wants to spend on making the federal government more efficient, given the election is now less than 10 months away. Editor's note: Seymour Klierly writes the Washington Whispers column for the Journal from inside the Beltway.
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