In February’s Reason I wrote a was one of a group of writers who offered predictions about “What to expect from the long-awaited, much-anticipated return of gridlock.” My comments focused on what would happen under the new Congress to competition and privatization, predicting we will see it cut back. This week Rep. Tom Davis, ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told the Consumer Electronics Show:
“We think this is a reasonable program to inject competition into the government and to spur along competition,” Davis said at the show’s government conference. “But unfortunately this has turned into a very partisan issue. It has really bogged down over the last two years. And I think it is likely to get worse under the new Congress as you have many federal employee organizations that don’t like this program at all.” Competing interests will likely lead to the demise of the program, Davis said. “One person’s efficiency and one person’s inefficiency is another person’s profit,” he said. “So we get into this game on Capitol Hill where you get very parochial, and I think A-76 could be one of the first casualties of the new Congress.”