This would be an unnecessary distraction from the real issue at hand: politicians will buy anything WITH OUR MONEY that they think will GET THEM RE-ELECTED. Solution: Any new spending must include the source of funds to pay for it, either increase in taxes or reduced funding for some other project. With over 400 agencies in the Federal budget, there’s plenty of places from which to choose.
I see it as a way for people to relate to, as you say, “OUR MONEY”
If an individual knows that they sent say $15,000 in federal taxes over a period of time, only to find out that $1.50 actually made it into the hands of an actual designated recipient of a fed government program, i think that would be a significant point for them to understand. Again, as it relates to “OUR MONEY”
“Our money” is dollars after operating expenses and overhead are taken out from your dollars that they took from you.
So the efficiency rate would be a huge issue to understand and then seeing how much time you personally spent and the sacrifices you made in order to get to the “OUR Money” figure would be mindblowing. It’s just a different perspective of what you are talking about that I feel is more relatable on an individual level.