Lewis D. Eigen Quotes

I believe the only measure of government response shouldn't be how much we spend on a situation, but rather how well we spend.

We can't spend money on programs just because they sound good... Meals on Wheels sounds great.

Now in business we do a cost benefit analysis before we make policy changes. Washington should as well.

It is a terribly hard job to spend a billion dollars and get your money's worth.

When a government agency is more efficient, they’re not necessarily going to get that money back. So they don’t always have an incentive.

Prioritizing spending and maximizing the effectiveness of taxpayer dollars is absolutely essential. We must draw the line, realigning programs when necessary and also eliminating failed programs.

Since his election, President Trump has made clear that he and his administration will be focusing on ensuring that the government is a smart buyer, getting the most for the taxpayer's dollar.

Who's going to do a better job of spending your money? You or the government?

Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.

It's easy to measure success by the number of dollars spent or by the number of programs initiated, without having too much regard for what was bought and how useful it was to the people who need it - the war fighter and the analyst.

The Pentagon budget, like all government spending, is an expression of priorities.

We have a responsibility to make sure that the limited resources we have are spent efficiently and effectively and that programs achieve their mission.

I object to you using words like squander and pork. What is pork in one part of the country is an essential project in another part.

Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.

It's a terribly hard job to spend a billion dollars and get your money's worth.

It is the duty of those serving the people in public place to closely limit public expenditures to the actual needs of the Government economically administered.

Government can’t deliver a free lunch to the country as a whole. It can, however, determine who pays for lunch.

When efforts are made to shape policy based on budgets rather than the public good, then the needs of the people will not be met.

Every dime spent is a political decision made.

Government spending is not wasteful. The question is, “Is it necessary?”

We don’t care what the cost-benefit is. We’re going to build it somehow because Congress says it’s going to be built.

Spending a few hundred million dollars more a year on evaluations could save tens of billions of dollars by teaching us which programs work and generating lessons to improve programs that don’t

We should stop wasting taxpayer funds on ridiculously expensive government missions to nowhere that return little value and blaze no useful trail for others to follow. Of course we should spend much more on science - and yes, use robots to do that science when it makes sense.

Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.

I don't understand why people in this country are so bent on doing the 'perfect', when you have something that is good and makes sense from a cost-benefit point of view.