The administration makes the case that Elon Musk’s doge group will make the government more responsive to our needs, but just getting rid of people and finding fraud and abuse might do some good; it fails to get to the heart of how to get things done in a timely fashion in America. Even the Doge claims a trillion dollars in savings, which pales beside the returns of actually getting things built or produced.

Even some left-of-center people realize that rather than Americans being able to interact in enterprises in reasonable time frames, it’s likely that any enterprise will ever come to fruition. In their new best-seller, “Abundance,” Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson lament how difficult it is to get anything done in America. An illustration they feature is California’s long-delayed high-speed rail. Having spent billions with no rails laid, the project’s goal was reduced to linking the great cities of Fresno and Merced instead of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The author’s example misses the mark by omitting that Florida has already linked Miami and the Gold Coast to Orlando with high-speed rail. Last year, the privately owned Brightline carried 2.7 million passengers.

Rather than lamenting America’s inability to build things, it is better to look at how people who faced a similar problem got up and running. As a private for-profit company, no question about who was in charge and responsible. The project leader coordinated everything on a set timeline. Because the route mainly ran on already-in-use Florida East Coast rails, permitting obstacles were minimal.

The relative success of high-speed rail in Florida vs. California’s costly failure should provide some principles for Governments to use to provide the framework for successful ventures.

First, someone has to be responsible and maintain a timeline. As a private venture, this isn’t a problem. When governments are involved in any sizable project, permitting and regulations need a project manager. This person should come from whatever government entity is most involved. Once selected, the manager posts the proposal on a public register with a comment period. Any objections made must be within the period. The manager assigns time for resolution, at which point the project manager renders a decision.

Once the manager issues the verdict, if anyone wants to challenge the decision in court, they must post a bond relative to the project’s costs and pay all legal fees if they lose. This course ensures everyone makes their best case during the comment period.

We can make the project manager’s job easier by having registries for sacred and archeological sites, environmentally sensitive areas, and habitats of endangered species. If any of these are objected to, they can be challenged, and a neutral group can do a cost analysis. This way, potential users can avoid these areas. If they go ahead, knowing new objections wouldn’t be allowed.

There is always a chance you run across an unknown once work starts. We can look to the United Kingdom by having rapid response teams set up for an archeological site. A plan can immediately be put in place to avoid harm while not unduly hampering the project.

Establishing a national infrastructure route system could place power and fiber optic lines, pipelines, and roadways in already approved lanes. Existing right-of-ways can be connected before the need arises. Railways should be induced to join the system. Once established, we can work on smoothing routes where needed.

By taking these three steps, we can proceed with needed projects with the least amount of harm and in a reasonable time frame. This will not only make us a better place to do business but also make us more competitive while maintaining standards.

There will always be clashes of interest. The best way to resolve them is to get out in front before everyone gets their back up. Whether we like it or not, we need to produce stuff, have places to live, and move things and people. Let’s do it in the best possible way.

These are examples of the government providing the proper framework for people’s interactions to accomplish things reasonably. Simply providing simple but necessary standards smooths the way. Weights and measures are mundane but think of trying to do without them.

Along these lines, the authors of “Abundance” pointed to a California community using modular concepts to provide less expensive living units but didn’t show how to apply this technology on a larger scale. National modular homes and connection standards could provide much factory work. Room modules in various styles made by different producers could be made to standards for at-risk areas, from fire and earthquake resistance in California to water and wind in Florida, but all can connect.

With the rise of AI, prospective home buyers submit the lot description and location they intend to build on, as well as the size, rooms, style, etc. AI assembles the modules available to produce choices that fit their vision. Prices, delivery times, on-site assemblers, and finishers give the purchaser a completion date and cost.

After watching homes take multiple years to complete on-site, I can understand our housing shortage, which leads to homes taking up an ever-increasing share of our incomes; this plan could put us on a better path without just turning out ticky, tacky boxes. Instead, we could have endless variations built to taste. All of these things are at a better price and on time.

I’ve touched on these ideas in the past. Still, I wanted to provide alternatives to the Biden subsidies and Trump tariff walls to show how to produce what we need here with the frameworks offered by a government that knows its job. Building a better foundation will make a better house.

Instead of willy-nilly firing government employees, Elon Musk and his friends would’ve done better repurposing them to positions such as project managers, constructing registries, and establishing home module standards. Many have the knowledge and skills to make it work, contributing more to our economy than saving their salaries. There are better ways.