The Unaccounted For IT Costs

Senate Republicans want to include in the economic stimulus bill a provision that would allow the federal government to offer 4 percent to 4.5 percent home loans as a way to reduce foreclosures while at the same time goosing the U.S. economy by freeing up more money for consumer spending. This idea, like most policy decisions that come out of Congress, sounds good until agencies are asked to implement it.

The systems (both digital and managerial) that federal managers must create to comply with new policies are, at best, underestimated by Congress, or, at worst (and most commonly), never considered. The systems can be difficult to create and, many times, are very expensive and given unrealistic time frames -- which the stimulus package most certainly will be following. Many times, software programs have to be rewritten, added onto, or sometimes created from scratch. Sometimes whole networks must be built.