Budget office seen shifting gears on rating programs
WASHINGTON -- President Obama's proposed $3.6 trillion budget spends more than $38 billion on programs the Bush administration said were "not performing," some as recently as last year, documents show.
Increased funding for many of the programs once deemed ineffective or unable to prove results reflects broad policy shifts ushered in by Obama and also a decision to measure performance differently.
Amtrak, for instance, would receive $1.5 billion — a slight increase — even though the rail service was considered ineffective by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President George W. Bush.
Watchdog groups praised the Bush administration's ranking of programs, which is available on ExpectMore.gov, and contend that some programs with performance problems continue to receive funding mainly because they are politically popular.
"As soon as you start pumping money out the door, there's always someone on the other end willing to take it," said Leslie Paige of the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. "It's a culture of spending that's gotten really out of control."
OMB under Obama plans to change how programs are evaluated, said spokesman Tom Gavin. The agency views the Bush system as too focused on ratings rather than improving performance, according to an analysis in the budget.
"There have been bipartisan concerns expressed with the … system," Gavin wrote in an e-mail. He did not say when those changes are scheduled to take effect.
Out of 1,015 programs reviewed on the ExpectMore site, which Bush unveiled in 2006, 26 were labeled ineffective and 173 could not show results. Most programs, including some that have not been reviewed in years, also received money under Bush — often at the direction of Congress.
Many programs have changed, been eliminated or are now wrapped into other initiatives, but a USA TODAY review of 89 non-performing programs identified in the proposed budget found that dozens are due for the same or more funding next year:
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