Issue Position: Government Spending

Issue Position

TJ believes in government self control. We all know that to have a strong and healthy body we need to eat right and exercise. Sometimes we eat too much and then need to diet. Similarly, government can become fat with excessive programs, waste and overspending.

One example of government waste can be found in transportation. TJ has talked with VDOT contractors who tell him that they are asked to pave roads that do not need paved or to lay rocks on roads that do not need rock because they were told that VDOT needs to spend its budget before the end of its fiscal year. An audit authorized by Governor McDonnell when he took office revealed that there had been significant mismanagement within VDOT. One billion dollars was found. This money was currently available for VDOT's maintenance and construction program that had not been used. This was not new funding, rather it was funding that would result from better leveraging and management of current resources. Every agency of government should be independently audited on a regular basis to reduce waste and to expose mismanagement.

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