Trim government agencies Iacocca-style

Remember Lee Iacocca, president of Ford and then CEO at Chrysler? I recall his statement, “I can take 5 percent off anything!”

Along that line, I suggest to our lawmakers that they take off only, say, 2 percent of everything in the budget. For instance, if a certain amount is provided for, say, national parks, deduct 2 percent now. Do that for every government entity.

Spare no agency! If this works, think about going to 2.5 percent or, conversely, go to 1.5 percent if too stringent.

Of course, our legislators would simply up their ante for any new government venture, so maybe 5 percent should be whacked off such at startup and 2 percent annually after that. Two percent off would hardly be noticed and maybe slow down that scary computer-generated online federal debt “clock.”

Don Hansen

Waterloo