Cut the "Crip Crap"

"No more largess in government. No more useless regulations. No more layers upon layers of management. No more sky high taxes. It is time to do more with less. In other words, time to cut the 'crip crap'. And time, is running out."  

My first employer out of business school was Sperry Univac. It was way out in the sticks, located in what was known back then as Eagan Township. Great job, I loved it. However, a large, mostly commercial company located across the Minnesota River (Control Data Corporation) had just upset the apple cart. They won a mega-huge government program by beating out many the big, name brand defense companies to win Standard Navy Airborne Computer (AN/AYK-14).

Once they were notified of the win, CDC hired a bunch of people with the talent they needed from the closest source - Sperry Univac. They even lured over a senior manager from Sperry. And as luck would have it, they called my number also. 

The senior management person hired was named Jerry. Once on board at CDC, he was amazed at how many inefficient tasks people were doing during the work day. Since I worked for Jerry, I heard him rant on this constantly. Finally, he had enough. He was in charge of the manufacturing organization with hundreds of people reporting to him. He called an "all hands" meeting to have a personal announcement.

"We do way too much 'crip crap'. I am going to hand out pins for all of us to wear which say 'No crip crap!' What it means is this. Are we doing the right thing right now? And are we doing the right thing the right way? If the answer is no to either question, we are doing 'crip crap', and we need to stop."

I think often about those days. I think how our federal and state governments are mired in "crip crap". President Trump sees it, and wants to fix it. Governor Dayton does not. For many Republicans (not the RINOs), they look at the landscape and wonder how they can do more with less. That is called efficiency. Progressive statists like Dayton look at the landscape and wonder how they can layer on even more inefficient governance. That is stupid and wasteful.

This week starts "go-time" for both federal and state government. Congress is back in town and has a "butt load" of work to get done. Plus, the time for the current state legislative session is running out. Is the work of the people getting done? Will we have true tax reform with both the federal and state governments? Or will be stuck with more of the same. Will we be able to do more with less now that the Republicans are behind the driver's wheel? Or will this just be an example of "same stuff, different day"?

Here is what I am thinking. As my former boss Jerry would say almost on a daily basis, "Are we doing the right thing right now? And are we doing the right thing the right way?" Not exactly rocket science. In fact, most successful companies operate this way, each and every day. Companies which chose not to, are probably not around any more.

No more largess in government. No more useless regulations. No more layers upon layers of management. No more sky high taxes. It is time to do more with less. In other words, time to cut the "crip crap". And time, is running out.