• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • News
  • Topics
    • Common Sense
    • Congress
    • Debt
    • Government waste
    • Millenials
    • QuizCap
    • Taxes
  • Tools
    • Agencies
    • Memes That Matter
    • Research Library
    • Scavenger Hunt
  • Shop
  • What We’re About
  • Multimedia
  • What We’re About
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter signup
  • Give to the Cause

Congress Should Look to Moneyball for Help With Government Programs

By Adam Kazda | October 13, 2017

During a recent committee hearing about evidence-based policy making on Capitol Hill, Congress was shocked to hear what many Americans already assumed. “Most of the nation’s social programs produce modest or no impacts on the problems they were meant to address.”

Popular Posts
  1. Social Security: Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences
  2. The Pentagon Cooks the Books Kevin Malone Style
  3. What Sam Adams Can Teach Us About the Corporate Tax Revamp

In September, the Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission released areport documenting the value of good information when making public policy. The commission spent over a year gathering and analyzing data that would ultimately be provided in a report of recommendations urging Congress to use evidence and data to help create better public policy.

In a world where technology drives business innovation, it is unfortunate the federal government has not been able to catch up. Many Members of Congress go home to their districts or states and see what problems are affecting their constituents, but far too often they try to fix a problem without researching or learning more. The intentions are without a doubt good, but without evidence or data involved in their decisions, they are just throwing tax dollars at a problem hoping for a solution.

× Follow us on Facebook and never miss a story.

Billy Beane of the Oakland A’s (Moneyball) made analytics in baseball a necessity. Now major sports leagues cannot live without it. Of course there is some human element involved, but the risk of a player, or program, shrinks dramatically when coupled with intuitive data. That is what the the Evidence Based Policy Making Commission was commissioned to do, analyze data that could in turn be used to make smart policy decisions.

learn about our mission Artboard 1

The hearing provided helpful insight to these ideas including one colorful exchange between a Congressman and Mr. Robert Shea, a commissioner on the Evidence-Based Policy Making Commission. The Representative asked, “In your experience, government agencies and programs don’t have clear goals for what they’re trying to accomplish?” To which Mr. Shea replied, “In many cases they don’t.”

The Weekly Chaser

Get the latest content, first.

Dr. Ron Haskins, a Co-Chair on the commission also added that when government watchdogs first started conducting audits of government social programs, they determined “about 85% of them failed to produce a major impact.” Mr. Haskins continued, expressing that he doesn’t think anyone “seriously questions that social programs don’t work.”

Hearing Mr. Haskins and his panel of experts agree has got to make you wonder, “If the scientific and data community can make these conclusions in little time, how has Congress not used this data to make significant changes to the programs it authorizes year in and year out over the past 50 years?”

Social programs and the agencies that administer them are, of course, not the only problem within the federal government. American infrastructure lacks prioritization, the Pentagon has been unable to pass an audit for two decades, there are trillions worth of loopholes in our tax code that must be closed, and improper payments total in the hundreds of billions.

While boasting about creating new programs and new laws is what Congress does best, Congress routinely ignores one of their constitutional duties, oversight. If we want our government to be more effective and efficient, Congress should work to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent with the utmost care. That means utilizing data and setting metrics.

× Follow us on Twitter.

Front offices in sports organizations rely more and more on analytics and “evidence” to make decisions about their teams. Congress should implore similar tactics by using fact driven solutions, along with other data, to create policy that works for all Americans. By doing so Congress will not only make government programs better and more efficient, but will also reduce the debt burden we place on future generations.

sidebar

sidebar-alt

If you liked this, you’ll love these

The President is Wrong on Earmarks

Read all about it Artboard 1

tax reform

Tax Reform 2.0: “Groundhog Day” Comes To Washington

Read all about it Artboard 1

The Last 100 Days Matter Far Less than the Upcoming $100 Trillion in Unfunded Obligations

Read all about it Artboard 1

Support Our Work

Federal agencies go largely unchecked, spending at will making use of inflated budgets. While some do very important work, we need to hold them accountable. You can do this by donating, emailing your legislator, or signing our petitions.

Donate Now

Sign Up for Pursuit Updates

Privacy Policy

Powered by the Foundation to Restore Accountability

Search
UNCOVER SOME GOVERNMENT WASTE?
share your opinion

Can you believe the US Government spends more money on it’s cable bill than on disaster relief?

NO! I’M FURIOUS! Eh, sounds right