Once Again, It's About Trust

This story underscores why there's a "trust problem" when it comes to building public support for fixing federal finances. Seems that a researcher in the Department of Education noticed the problems leading to the student loan scandal back in 2003 -- but when he tried to do something about it, he was told to mind his own business.

Everything we know about waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government tells us that eliminating it won't solve our long-term fiscal problems. But research by Facing Up partners Public Agenda and Viewpoint Learning also show that the public won't support real sacrifices on budget reform unless they believe their money is going to be well-spent. Today's Times tale from the Education Department is not going to help. The next time something like this comes up, government leaders should have a better answer than "you're out of your pay grade."