Last-minute spending, as addressed in "Last-minute spending hurts IRS, IG says," is NOT a new issue by any stretch. The Defense Department and other federal agencies suffer the same problem. I did research on this issue for an MBA degree paper and found that it's Congress and the rules it affixes to the funds that cause part of the problem. Most business' plan their budgets based on need and prudent planning. And they don't impose draconian measures when those budgets are not kept. Government agencies play a variety of fiscal games to ensure that they get the same funding for the next year while getting every dime out of the current budget. That's where the problems come in. I'm sure there's already reams of data on this issue. Can you report on what some solutions might be?

Anonymous