In each of the past two years, President Bush has publicly cited a group of 100-plus federal programs in his State of the Union address that he wishes to eliminate or drastically reduce because they are "not getting results." Yet, over two-thirds of these programs have not even been reviewed by the administration's own tool for determining results: the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Unfortunately, this is just one indication of the administration's biased use of the PART, which, along with positive spin on performance and results, is used to drum up support for its pre-ordained ideological goals. OMB Watch has prepared two new fact sheets de-bunking the myth that the PART and the president's "objective" performance and results data are the basis for the president's budget proposals. The fact sheets conclude:

There is little evidence in the budget submissions of the past two years to support the presidential rhetoric that results are the basis of funding decisions. The president's rhetorical focus on performance and results seem to be just that--merely a smokescreen providing political cover for a Bush agenda that seeks to promote particular ideological policies while drastically reducing the size of the federal government.