Unintended consequences of limits on government travel

Originally posted by  on The Washington Post

Concerned about government travel expenses? Here's a thought.

Slice agency budgets, across the board. Tell employees not to work one or two days a week. Don't pay them for that time. This recipe not only will reduce federal employee travel, it also will make an across-the-board cut in their morale and do a disservice to American taxpayers.

There is a better way to reduce government travel expenses, even if Congress can't find a better way to run the government than the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration,  which are set to take effect Friday.

But going too far, cutting too much travel spending in ways that aren't smart, can have unintended bad consequences -- witness the sequester.

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