OMB Paper Aims to Clear Up Bush's Management Agenda
Correction: The Oct. 9 Federal Diary column gave an incorrect Internet address for Understanding Government. The group's Web site is http://www.understandinggov.org. (Published 10/14/2006)</br></br>As federal employees understand all too well, it's sometimes hard to sort out myth and fact in Washington.</br></br>Last week, the White House budget office posted a paper on one of the Bush administration's Web sites (www.results.gov) that, from its perspective, tried to set the record straight on the president's management agenda for the government.</br></br>That agenda has been controversial since it began five years ago -- in part because it promotes contracting out federal work and more rigorous approaches to measuring the performance of employees and programs. It's safe to predict that a number of the "facts" in this new paper will be disputed by federal unions and in some quarters of Congress.</br></br>Federal employees also will bring their workplace experiences to bear when assessing the Office of Management and Budget's paper, which pulls together the administration's explanations on contentious sections of the agenda. Among the paper's points: