This dilemma, however, is a false one. The simple fact is that without substantial improvements in government performance today's deficit cuts will produce tomorrow's disappointments. For most Americans, the deficit is less an economic reality than a symbol of the government's ungovernability. Bringing the deficit down will help demonstrate that elected officials can govern, but such reassurance will evaporate if citizens do not sense that the performance of government has improved just as dramatically. The analysis and recommendations we have offered suggest that fundamental improvement in the management of government can produce better performance and reduce government inefficiency.
Greater efficiency can reduce government's cost and help reduce the budget deficit.
Performance reforms that fail to connect with the realities of deficit politics fail to win political support. Government needs to be made leaner and smarter if its performance is to improve, its costs are to be reduced, and future efforts such as health reform are not to be undercut. It is easy in the struggle over the budget deficit to assume that management will take care of itself. It is equally easy to get lost in the lofty rhetoric of performance improvement and forget the political realities of the budget deficit. Only by bridging the gap between the twin deficits can either goal be achieved.