# Pawlenty: If you can Google it, cut it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689 "2011-06-07T23:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Profound\_Gibberish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Profound\_Gibberish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profound_Gibberish)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/21 "2011-06-09T13:54:47Z")
His “Plan” has all of the depth of the bumper sticker you could print it on. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/22 "2011-06-09T14:09:04Z")
And yet, the Google part of his plan is the _most_ sane part of it. He also calls for tax cuts three times as large as the Bush ones (including completely eliminating capital gains taxes). Then says that this will create GDP growth at a sustained 5% (which hasn’t happened since the post-war boom AFAIK). Which will then create enough revenue even under slashed taxes to balance the budget (which even Ryan’s plan doesn’t purport to do). It’s complete economic madness… and this is the “serious” candidate. ---
**Author:** ![JimH52](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@JimH52](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimH52)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/23 "2011-06-09T15:08:45Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > And yet, the Google part of his plan is the _most_ sane part of it. > > He also calls for tax cuts three times as large as the Bush ones (including completely eliminating capital gains taxes). Then says that this will create GDP growth at a sustained 5% (which hasn’t happened since the post-war boom AFAIK). Which will then create enough revenue even under slashed taxes to balance the budget (which even Ryan’s plan doesn’t purport to do). > > It’s complete economic madness… and this is the “serious” candidate. VooDoo Economics? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/24 "2011-06-09T15:38:03Z")
I can agree with him, to this extent: It’s very easy to find, on the Internet, any number of opinionated idiots with simplistic solutions to budget issues. Therefore we don’t need Pawlenty in office. Any office. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/25 "2011-06-09T16:30:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Relevant link](http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&c2coff=1&source=hp&q=tim+pawlenty&aq=0&aqi=g5&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=e28a97840bb57e9&biw=1199&bih=889) Since it appears no one else is going to say it: I see what you did there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/26 "2011-06-09T21:07:20Z")
The question is, will this plan play with Republican voters? It sounds all kinds of nuts to me, but for folks who wish Bush were back in office it might sound sensible - especially when the alternatives are flip-flip Mitt and Batshit Bachmann. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/27 "2011-06-09T22:05:15Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > More outsourcing of government functions = more opportunities to funnel taxpayer dollars to your cronies. > > Like most Libertarian ideas, it only exists to provide ideological cover for the wealthy to screw the middle class. Less outsourcing of government functions = more opportunities to funnel taxpayer dollars to the cronies who run the programs. Like most Statist ideas, it only exists to provide ideological cover for the government to screw the taxpayers. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/28 "2011-06-09T22:47:55Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > In other words, replacing fair compensation with unfair compensation. > [@furt](#): > > Less outsourcing of government functions = more opportunities to funnel taxpayer dollars to the cronies who run the programs. > > Like most Statist ideas, it only exists to provide ideological cover for the government to screw the taxpayers. It really depends. Take janitorial. That is a function that is often outsourced. Big companies, and government agencies would rather simplify and pay a monthly fee then deal with all the line items involved with janitorial. Let a company specialize in that and harness economies of scale. But then you end up with minimum wage contractors vetted by outside companies running around CIA headquarters. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/29 "2011-06-10T01:13:28Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Less outsourcing of government functions = more opportunities to funnel taxpayer dollars to the cronies who run the programs. > > Like most Statist ideas, it only exists to provide ideological cover for the government to screw the taxpayers. You are 10 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/30 "2011-06-10T03:06:58Z")
Him and Mitt Romney would be great together, each one saying stupider and stupider things they don’t really believe to appeal to the arch-conservatives who control the GOP base and decide who will win the primary. It’d be like two junior high kids fighting over whose older brother is the strongest. “My older brother bench pressed the car” “my older brother beat up 15 cops, and that was when he leg was broken” etc. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/31 "2011-06-10T13:28:41Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > It really depends. Of course; I was being sarcastic to mock MOIDALIZE’s blanket assertion. There’s plenty of things the government can’t outsource, and arguably things currently outsourced that shouldn’t be. But there are also things that could be outsourced that aren’t. An example would be NFC – it’s a subsidiary of the USDA that is in charge of processing payroll for most of the federal government. Most companies nowadays outsource payroll to ADP or the like. In the federal government, this process is undertaken by the Department of Agriculture. It would be much more efficient for each government agency to independently contract out payroll. But NFC is an entrenched fiefdom, and anyone seeking to take their agency off it would make enemies, and so it stays. It should be noted that the principle of the Yellow Pages rule is already commonly embraced – e.g. [Raines Rules #2](http://www.balancedscorecard.org/RainesRules/tabid/114/Default.aspx). But getting those policies actually enacted is a whole different kettle of fish, as Pawlenty will find out should he be elected. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/32 "2011-06-10T13:30:36Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > You are 10 years old. I have no response to such a devastating retort. Truly, you are keen of mind and quick of tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/33 "2011-06-10T17:11:25Z")
> [@](#): > > An example would be NFC – it’s a subsidiary of the USDA that is in charge of processing payroll for most of the federal government. Most companies nowadays outsource payroll to ADP or the like. In the federal government, this process is undertaken by the Department of Agriculture. It would be much more efficient for each government agency to independently contract out payroll. But NFC is an entrenched fiefdom, and anyone seeking to take their agency off it would make enemies, and so it stays. Isn’t this, effectively, an _example_ of outsourcing in the government? Rather than each agency having their own payroll staff, they have all of their payroll done by the same group of folks who specialize in doing it, so the individual agencies don’t have to worry about it. It seems to me that all the other agencies (except for the USDA itself, of course) are effectively outsourcing to NFC. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/34 "2011-06-10T17:19:08Z")
Ahh, this runs in complete agreement with his previous opinions on this like when [he wanted a state run casino.](http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/12/06_zdechlikm_govgambles/) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/35 "2011-06-10T18:04:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t this, effectively, an _example_ of outsourcing in the government? Rather than each agency having their own payroll staff, they have all of their payroll done by the same group of folks who specialize in doing it, so the individual agencies don’t have to worry about it. It seems to me that all the other agencies (except for the USDA itself, of course) are effectively outsourcing to NFC. Yeah, but that’s, y’know, still _the Gubmint_. Which is intrinsically _eeeevil_. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/36 "2011-06-10T19:32:07Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Ahh, this runs in complete agreement with his previous opinions on this like when [he wanted a state run casino.](http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/12/06_zdechlikm_govgambles/) > > :rolleyes: Clearly the plan was to build it using taxpayer money, and then sell it off to the private sector so it gets run “right”. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/37 "2011-06-13T02:03:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t this, effectively, an _example_ of outsourcing in the government? Rather than each agency having their own payroll staff, they have all of their payroll done by the same group of folks who specialize in doing it, so the individual agencies don’t have to worry about it. It seems to me that all the other agencies (except for the USDA itself, of course) are effectively outsourcing to NFC. You are correct that it’s inter-agency oursourcing. The problem is that unlike normal outsourcing, it’s not a competitive contract. Any agency that tried to solicit competitive bidding from corporate payroll providers (e.g. ADP), would be inviting political friction. More fundamentally, the agencies do not pay NFC to do their payroll – the Department of Energy (e.g.) does not send money to NFC to get their payroll done; as far as the DoE’s budget is concerned, the cost to process payroll is zero. So obviously, the DoE has no motivation to call ADP and see if they can offer a better deal – you can’t beat free. Of course, it’s not free to the taxpayer – the cost of processing DoE’s payroll will be reflected in NFC’s budget, which is within USDA’s budget, which taxpayers still pay. Of course USDA has no desire to put themselves out of the paymaster business. And so the status quo stays. In the corporate world, if you outsource a task to another division of the same company, accounting is done to reflect that a cost is being transferred from one division to another. This is generally not done in the federal government. I suppose it’s theoretically possible that the USDA really is the best possible payroll contractor. (My wife, a high-level bureaucrat, would beg to differ) The problem is nobody is even checking to see – it’s really not in anyone’s interest to. And on and on down the line. ---
**Author:** ![Backcountry\_Medic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Backcountry\_Medic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backcountry_Medic)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/38 "2011-06-14T15:19:39Z")
Fight my ignorance here- I have no idea what ADP charges to do payroll for a large company or even how many people NFC does payroll for. Do you have any reasonable estimates for savings here? What is the NFC’s operating budget this year? I can’t believe all of this outsourcing talk is anything more than smoke and mirrors. Being generous, say you outsource all non-defense discretionary spending to the tune of 50% savings. Congrats, you’ve solved about 2% of the debt problem. What about the other 98%? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/39 "2011-06-14T15:22:07Z")
> [@Backcountry\_Medic](#): > > Congrats, you’ve solved about 2% of the debt problem. What about the other 98%? Tax cuts will fix that, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689/40 "2011-06-16T14:50:17Z")
This Google idea is almost as brilliant as Herman Cain’s “I will veto any bill longer than 3 pages” idea. Truly, it is a race to the intellectual bottom in the GOP primaries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawlenty-if-you-can-google-it-cut-it/584689.md?page=3)