This story underscores [1] 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 [2] to the student loan scandal [3] back in 2003 -- but when he tried to do something about it, he was told to mind his own business [4].

Everything we know about waste, fraud and abuse [5] 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 [5] 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."