Alva Review-Courier -

Last year was a momentous year for the nation. Congress confirmed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, passed once-in-a-generation tax reform, confirmed a record number of Circuit Court Judges, repealed the Obamacare individual mandate, and streamlined hundreds of regulations that have slowed investing and job creation. There remain many challenges that have not been addressed; the largest is our debt and deficit.

First a couple of quick definitions: The deficit is how much we overspend in one year. The debt is the total of all the yearly deficits. Last year's overspending, or deficit, was around $660 billion, but the debt is an astonishing $20.5 trillion. In 2011, our nation hit the all-time highest deficit of $1.4 trillion, but the federal deficit has gone down every single year until 2016. Since 2016, the deficit has started to increase again.

For years, Republican and Democratic members of Congress have stated that we cannot just cut our way to balancing the budget because we are too far out of balance. To stop the deficits, we must limit spending and have a growing economy. But, for the past ten years, the American economy has been very flat, with last year growing at about half of the typical annual rate compared to the past seventy years.

You would think that in a budget of over $3.5 trillion in spending each year, Congress could agree on what is essential and what could be cut. But, typically any conversation about cuts in the budget starts extended fights and name calling.

The federal government has the responsibility to support federal programs that are essential to preserve our nation and protect Americans, such as, transportation, national defense, disaster relief, etc. To pay for what is essential, we should cut back on what is not essential.

This is why I continue to release a federal government waste and solutions report every year entitled, Federal Fumbles: 100 ways the government dropped the ball. This report brings to light ideas to streamline government and an important conversation about the nation’s growing debt and deficit. It is not an exhaustive list that identifies all waste, but it does make it clear that we are not efficiently spending tax dollars yet.

Here are a few examples of wasteful spending from this year’s report: Doggie Hamlet is an outdoor play in New Hampshire that received a federal grant to subsidize actors in a field yelling, singing, and laughing as they run toward very confused sheep and dogs. And the play doesn’t include any actual lines from Hamlet. I’m fine if the residents of New Hampshire want to support this local drama production, but why should Oklahomans also foot the bill?

US taxpayers gave a billion dollars for a ten-mile section of a streetcar route in San Diego, California. Oklahoma City is currently adding a streetcar, but the residents of Oklahoma are paying for it, unlike the residents of San Diego.

The National Institutes of Health does incredible work on research, but it also spent $2.6 million last year to provide retirement care to chimpanzees that had previously been used for research projects. It is approximately the same amount per chimp as the cost of college tuition per student.

Last year, the IRS failed to enforce some basic areas of the tax code, which meant that billions of dollars were not collected from people who owe tax money. No one wants their tax money wasted, but people certainly do not want to pay more because someone else cheated on their taxes and got away with it.

Each year, our team identifies spending and waste in areas we are confident we could garner bipartisan support to stop it. But, the rules and structure of the Senate usually prevent addressing these specific areas of waste. So, with each entry in the Federal Fumbles guide, we provide details how to structurally fix these issues or expose the duplication.

One of the major solutions is a bill I have fought for called “The Taxpayers Right to Know Act.” This bill would require all federal agencies to make public the details, cost, and performance metrics of every federal program. This will give agencies and the American people the ability to see how their money is spent, find duplication in programs, and reduce the amount of inefficiency within our federal government. Neither political party should protect waste in government. Let’s identify it and then fix it. Complaining about waste is not as important as eliminating it.

As we go through this next year working on these issues, I hope you will take time to read the report at http://www.lankford.senate.gov. If you know of an area of federal government waste, contact my office so we can get to work on it. Your example may be in next year’s Federal Fumbles and your idea could help save all of our tax dollars.