Has there ever been a federal program/act that was completed on time and under budget?

[armyowalgreens]

Or relatively close to budget.

I'm debating this conservative A-hole and he is suggesting that there has NEVER been a program like that.

[EFerrari]

1. Tax collecting?

:)

[napi21]

I don't know about the budget part, but the Do Not Call List

broke all records for getting a bill to the floor, passed & signed into law! I remember How astonished I was to see that whole group of people more vo fast on ANYTHING!

[PVnRT]

2. Warning: cynical answer from a government contractor

No.

Why? Because Company A will come back with a bid, and the government will want them to compress the schedule. The schedule, written by accountants and not by the people doing the actual work, is promptly compressed by said accountants to win the bid. The people doing the work then take the blame for going over budget and not meeting schedule.

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. The Fort McHenry Tunnel...

..that takes I-95 under Baltimore was on time and under budget -- until the Big Dig, the largest roads project in the nation's history. Lots of compare-and-contrast stuff with the Boston job, is why I remember.

[T Wolf]

4. The missing point is that the govenrment, for the public good, does things that may not be

done "at a profit." That is not the issue.

As an example - let them privatize the U.S. Postal Service. We in urban and suburban areas will still get mail because it can be done more efficiently (economies of scale, etc.) and there would be no shortage of competitors for that business. Hell, it would probably be cheaper than under the USPS. But the ignorant yokels out in flyover country will have to pay a fortune to a private corporation to get their Playboys and John Deere catalogs, if any company is willing to undertake such a risky business.

I say, let's try it. We have subsidized those parasites for far too long.

[liberaltrucker]

5. Hoover Dam

nt

[Junkdrawer]

13. yep.

[azurnoir]

6. Perhaps WIC?

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/

[Kalyke]

7. Federal contractor here.

Yes... the NASA SEWP program is remarkably fast and quotes for IT equipment move through and are awarded at, relatively, break-neck speed.

[wuushew]

8. The Panama Canal

23 million under budget when opened in 1914.

[ThomWV]

9. Building of both the Pentagon and Oak Ridge, TN.

Also the Hanford site. Add to that the Interstate Highway system, which was built in what could only be thought of as record time when you consider its expanse.

[HopeHoops]

10. Weren't Spirit and Opportunity both?

NASA counts. I'm pretty sure they at least came in under budget and if they didn't hit the exact deadline, they were damn close - launch window requirements dictated that!

[armyowalgreens]

11. Thanks, everybody, for the info.

[walldude]

12. The Manhattan Project.

Repubbies love that one.

Also the Moon Landing.

Not exactly small projects.