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Keller @ Large: Some Good News About Government

BOSTON (CBS) - How about some good news about government for a change?

According to a report by the State House News Service, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Rachel Kaprelian, told a Ways and Means Committee hearing Wednesday that serious cuts in the budget and workforce at her agency have not resulted in major service problems.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

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"We are managing very well" with only 30 RMV branches, down from 35 a few years ago, claimed Kaprielian, who says between delegating tasks to the private sector and an increase in online transactions, the Registry has been getting the job done with 200 fewer employees and close to $7 million less to spend.

If this rosy picture conflicts with your own experience, tell me about it below in the comments section. But I have to say my own interactions with the Registry in recent years have been trouble-free.

But that happy news raises an unhappy question: if the Registry can make do with less, why can't the rest of government?

As we discussed the other day, we are now being told by the president that relatively minor budget cuts will wreak havoc on our daily lives. Our governor claims we must pay substantially higher taxes if we want a functioning infrastructure and basic services.

The president and the governor are both Democrats, but this inability to make do with less is clearly a bi-partisan disease. Does anyone believe that our country cannot be kept safe and continue its mission abroad if military spending is cut, carefully and rationally?

Many Republicans apparently do.

Leaders of both parties desperately need a crash course in cost-conscious managing and budgeting.

Or maybe they should just chat up Rachel Kaprielian and find out how she does it.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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