Obama: ‘No pet projects’ in slashing waste

As Republicans signaled this weekend that they
will target every wasted dollar of President Obama’s stimulus plan, the
president went on the offensive Saturday, naming more aides to oversee
government spending.

In his weekly radio address, the president announced that he is appointing
Jeffrey Zients to be the nation’s first chief performance officer. Obama
originally named Nancy Killefer to the inaugural post, but she withdrew her
nomination because she failed to pay unemployment taxes for her household help.

{mosads}The White House said Saturday that Zients will also serve as Peter Orzsag’s
deputy at the office of management and budget, and Aneesh Chopra,
Virginia’s secretary of technology, will serve as the nation’s chief technology
officer.

With Zients and Chopra tasked with the “painstaking work” of 
monitoring spending, the president also said he will be announcing “the
elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or
ineffective.” 

“In this effort, there will be no sacred cows, and no pet projects,”
Obama said. “All across America, families are making hard choices, and
it’s time their government did the same.” 

Obama said Zients and Chopra will join others in the administration in ensuring
that tax dollars spent through the president’s recovery act will not be wasted.

“Is this program really essential?” Obama said he will ask. “Are
taxpayers getting their money’s worth?  Can we accomplish our goals more
efficiently or effectively some other way?”

The president, who is in Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday for the Summit of the
Americas, again claimed refuge from the dire economic realities he inherited
from his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

“In the year 2000, we had projected budget surpluses in the trillions, and
Washington appeared to be on the road to fiscal stability,” Obama said.
“Eight years later, when I walked in the door, the projected budget
deficit for this year alone was $1.3 trillion.  And in order to jumpstart
our struggling economy, we were forced to make investments that added to that
deficit through the American recovery and reinvestment act.”