Akkam’s Razor

Bush has in his budget plans to eliminate 150 wasteful and inefficient programs. As best I can tell, no one has actually spelled out what those 150 programs are, and what quantifies as wasteful.

First things first…there are a couple of resources you should become familiar with. First is Results.gov. Second is the Program Assesment Rating Tool (PART). The results, as reflected in the FY2006 Federal Budget are here as an *.xls file.

What exactly is PART?

The PART is a diagnostic tool that examines different aspects of program performance to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a given program. It consists of questions designed to provide a systematic, transparent, and robust way of assessing program effectiveness so as to make more informed managerial and budget recommendations. [Via]

What is the criteria for the elimination of a program?

Programs are assesed annually. There is then a 56-page document with a list of criteria (most with yes or no questions) that is to be filled out by the respective Agency Head. Program summaries (one page each) can be found here; individual pdf’s for each agency are available here. Documentation explaning what what constitutes an effective program are here (pdf).

What programs are getting the ax?

A filtered *.xls file can be found here. You will have to trust me…it’s a safe *.xls file.