Oh, Those Tiny Little Budget Cuts

If you need to take a breather from the tumultuous healthcare reform debate going on up on Capitol Hill, and you can’t hear one more word about how the stimulus program hasn’t actually started stimulating much, you should know about our government at work.

Today’s Wall Street Journal offers up the details of the deficit-busting work that has gone on in every department of the executive branch. Remember when President Barack Obama ordered his Cabinet secretaries to come up with $100 million to trim off the federal budget? They found $102 million — those eager beavers — and have shaved 0.006 percent off the deficit. Party!

According to the report, the Department of Justice has resorted to double-sided photocopying, and the Forest Service will no longer repaint its new white vehicles green when they are purchased. The Department of Homeland Security will save $318,000 just e-mailing some documents instead of printing them, and the Office of Thrift Supervision found $320,000 worth of unused phone lines. Some of the price tags are staggering examples of waste, but they still add up to … almost nothing.

As Brian Reidl, a budget expert with the Heritage Foundation, was quoted as saying: “Some of these cuts are so small they would be a rounding error of a rounding error in the federal budget.”

Hey, with the deficit approaching $2 trillion, you can’t blame the administration for trying.

WILL THE AUGUST RECESS KILL HEALTHCARE REFORM? Ask A.B. returns Monday, Aug. 3. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com. Thank you.