A Proper Blending

Chapter 4 begins with a review of presidential proposals for reblending the government-industrial complex. The chapter starts with brief comparisons of presidential campaign promises and reform. This section argues that recent presidents have focused on “one-sided” reforms designed to show their commitment to smaller government. However, this opening discussion also argues that Obama was the first president since Eisenhower to understand the government-industrial complex and call for reform on both sides of the complex. Chapter 4 then introduces a sorting system for reblending the federal, contract, and contract workforces to guarantee that the right people are in the right positions at the best value with the highest performance and greatest accountability. Chapter 4 outlines a six-step iterative process for blending that starts with (1) resolving ambiguities, (2) taking social responsibility, (3) tracking the movement of functions between government and industry, (4) sorting functions, (5) resetting the cap, and (6) reinforcing the dividing line between government and industry.