You're Tom Vilsack, new Secretary of Agriculture. Your headquarters building has eight miles of corridors. Someone reminds you that you run the National Finance Center, a payroll service that runs a huge proportion of all government payments. Then they hand you a partial list of the operating units in the NFC. Here they are:
ABCO, ABCOINQ, ADJP, BATCHFOC, BCST, BEAR, BLCO, CADI, CAS, CETR, CFST, CLER, CRED, CULPRPT, DATADICT, DFIS, DOTSE, DPRS, EARN, EEOT, EIDS, EMIS, EPIC/HCUP, EPP, FAADS, FEDS, FEDSINQ, FESI, FFIS, FINQ, FOCUSRPT, FTSP, GVTS, HCUP, IMPF, IRIS, ISPF, LEDG, LIST, MANLOG, 13, MASC, MATS, MISC, MPOL, PACT, PAYE, PC-BLCO, PC-BRCD, PC-FEDS, PC-MISC, PCMS, PC-PEST, PC-PRCH, PC-PROP, PC-TARE, PC-TRVL, PEP51, PKI, PINE, PINQ, PLAN, PMIS, PMSO, PRCH, PRCHENT, PRCHINQ, PRES, PROP, RETM, RFQS, SAMS, SETS, SF-279, SINQ, SPIN, SPPS, STAR, TELE, TIME, TINQ, TMGT, TPIR, TRAI, 14, TRAN, TRVL, UCFE, UNAL, UTVN, VPSPRINT, WTWO, INQ
That is the sprawling beast that is one division within one cabinet-level department. Multiply that 15 executive departments, and untold divisions within each one.
Are you getting your money's worth?
