David Brooks is an Idiot

Brooks, the leading Bush cheerleader at the NY Times, does it again. His column goes through a document produced by the government about how to deal with a major hurricane and then goes on to state that this is why big government doesn't work.

The government's plan was good. The implementation was spotty. The execution was a disaster. Cronyism, funding cuts, and funding diversions to pet/pork projects is what caused the plan to fail. When you can appoint people who have no background in the field, you have problems.

I think that what we need is a 5 year moratorium on government contracts with contractors. Allow me to explain what I mean by this. Once you leave the government as an elected official or as a state or federal employee, you cannot have a job with any company (official or unofficial, aka lobbying firm) that has government contracts for five years. This would include military service, as that's part of my idea on how to correct the military-industrial complex. In reverse, you cannot leave a government contractor or lobbying job for the government (GS or appointee) unless 5 years have passed. Working on ANY campaign counts as either government service or contracting/lobbying service. Including volunteering on the campaign.

Basically, if you want to play politics you can't play in the money waters (lobbying and contracting). If you want the money, you can't play in politics. If you're in the military, you don't have a free pass into the lucrative security clearance area unless you stay in government employ.

Why five years? its longer than one presidential term, and its long enough for a security clearance to expire, thus getting rid of the military free ride.