The Federal Diary column in the Washington Post this week asked each of the presidential candidates a series of questions related to the federal workforce. Both columns are worth a quick read if you want to learn more about the candidates (see McCain and Obama), but I wanted to highlight one question in particular. Joe Davidson asked each candidate, "Federal labor leaders complain that outside contractors perform jobs that should be done by government employees. Do you favor any suspension of contracting out activities? Do you favor legislation that would prohibit the IRS from using appropriated funds to hire private tax collectors?" Below are their responses. McCain: If programs have a good record, and serve a vital national purpose that the private sector can't, they will receive continued funding. But I will not subordinate my commitment to the American people to ensure their tax dollars are spent wisely to the demands of labor leaders looking to swell the ranks of federal government unions. I will make every aspect of government purchases and performance transparent. Information on every step of contracts and grants will be posted on the Internet in plain and simple English. We're not going to hide anything behind accounting tricks and bureaucratic doubletalk. Nor will I allow other procurement tricks that divert funds from national priorities. I will expand the use of fixed-price contracts to enforce discipline in the procurement process and ensure that clearly defined requirements are fulfilled, realistic schedules are kept, and costs don't exceed the promised price. Too often, contractors underbid to 'buy into' a market with little expectation of delivering on schedule and within budget. At the same time, the government's cost estimates are often unrealistic. Fixed-price contracts based on realistic cost estimates with clear, consistent requirements will ensure that the contractor pays for cost overruns, not the taxpayers. We must also limit sole-source contracting and make cost discipline a priority using market competition to keep costs down and innovation up. Obama: Sen. Obama is concerned by the rising number of government contractors that are often unaccountable and frequently less efficient than government workers. As president, Obama will restore effective oversight of the government-contracting process and reduce our nation's increasing dependence on private contractors in sensitive or inherently governmental functions. Obama will eliminate the Bush administration's ideological bias towards outsourcing of government services and abandon initiatives, like the inefficient use of private bill collectors to collect federal taxes, that are a demonstrated waste of taxpayer money. OMB Watch is a 501(c)(3) and does not participate in activities that support or oppose candidates for public office. This information is presented solely for informational purposes.