Government Racket: 2000 and Beyond – A Blueprint for Reform and Exposé of Washington Dysfunction

by Martin L. Gross

In 1992, Martin L. Gross shocked the nation with his New York Times bestseller , The Government Washington Waste A to Z, after whcih he testified before Congress five times on hidden catastrophic waste. Now he has returned to the scene of the crime and found that things have gotten even worse. He shows how the claim that the "era of a big government is over" is a blatant lie. With 2 percent inflation, federal spending rose 7 percent and is now more than $2 trillion annually. The Social Security fund is empty and $1.2 trillion in debt, while its FCA surplus is squandered on everything except the aged. In this provacative follow-up volume, the author outlines an encylcopedia of new wastem shows what happened to his previous suggestions to cut costs, and lays out a blueprint for governent reform that could stop Washington's dysfunstional behavoir . In thirty-six chapters he gives scores of examples of giant new waste and abuse,

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction

292 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1992

Reviews

[Kevin Kirkhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Federal Government is the worst example of how to run a business (and make money). I got this book thinking I would be enlightened by all the Government programs that were ridiculous or wasteful. It was all this and so much more. It does point out a lot of silly programs that waste money, but in the grand scheme of the budget it's a bit more than a drop in the bucket.

The author is truly bi-partisan. He points out how there really isn't a surplus, how the government can make much more money on it's own and thus enable taxes to be lower. Speaking of taxes, he favors the National Sales Tax and justifies why this is the only fair and practical way to go. His solution to lowering the welfare budget is to give each person who, by our laws is considered poor (7.7 million people), enough money to be above the poverty line. In one swoop, we will have no more poor people and it will cost less than the yearly welfare budget.

The big waste of money comes from the gross mismanagement of programs and agencies. The author points out numerous cases of
- multiple programs covering the same subject spread out over several agencies.
- Horrible management of programs that lose the government millions (and billions) of dollars.
- Outdated programs that were useful 50 years ago, but serve no purpose today, other than to waste tax money.
- Massive number of perks allocated to Congress that include overstaffing and other spending luxuries.


With every instance of waste or mis-management the author gives his solution to the problem, complete with the amount of money that would be saved.

The second part of the book updates people on the waste he brought up in his first book The Government Racket: Washington Waste From A to Z, which was written in 1993. Some perks and programs were changed or removed. Others were left alone to continue wasting tax dollars.

The third part of the book discusses how he would restructure the Federal Government. This mostly centers around the Cabinet and the consolidation and/or removal of agencies and programs.

I would rank this book high on my list of books for anyone wanting to know what is really wrong with our Federal Government, and why the spending has gone through the roof.

After reading this book, you will be so disgusted with politicians (Democrats and Republicans) that you'll want to take a firehose and wash away all the Washington sludge.

[Andrea Balfour · Rating 3 out of 5]

The government spending is as wasteful as it gets. The government processes are equally wasteful. In an effort to look and keep busy, we spend money so that we can continue to get the same money and ask for more next year. It's a sad process. A lot of the jobs are inefficient for a reason, just like those citizens who get subsidies won't get better jobs because it would mean their subsidies would be cut. Same idea. From staff to entertainment, vehicles to retirement funds, campaigns to bogus/un-checked programs. Where does the money come from? What happens to the growing deficit? Solutions are offered but who will do them? Why would they cut their budgets willingly? Who is in power to force the issue who isn't already a beneficiary of the gross misguided use of funds?

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. We all know about government waste, but this book gives specifics on just how widespread it is. He should be on the government's payroll for overseeing government waste!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an old book, published in 1992, I've had on my bookshelf for a long time. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that 90% of what Gross writes about is still true, except multiply the numbers by a factor of 4, give or take. Gross is horrified by a national debt of $4 billion, for example.

A lot of what he suggests could still be done today. A few proffered solutions wouldn't pass constitutional muster (e.g., limitations on campaign spending). Overlook a few ideas that are no longer relevant or wise and you still have a workable plan to change the direction of government spending. Yes, I know. A billion here and a few hundred million there isn't going to make much of a dent. But, at least it WOULD BE a dent no matter how small (relatively speaking), and you do have to start somewhere. I have hope that businessman President Trump will employ similar ideas to start to shrink our bloated wasteful bureaucracy.

PS- Mr Gross died in 2013 at the age of 88. He was an inspiration to the followers of Ross Perot in 1992 and to the Tea Party in the 2010's. You can read his obituary at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/boo... .