There aren’t too many reports issued by the federal government that sound like they would make an interesting read, but here’s one title that caught our eye:

“Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars and Enhance Revenue.”

OK, we’re intrigued. Can we lose weight without diet and exercise, too?

The report was produced by the General Accounting Office, and it is a response to a law enacted last year that calls for an annual assessment of government programs to look for duplication. The report’s writers looked and they found plenty.

According to the report, $58 billion is spent every year funding more than 100 programs devoted to repairing roads and bridges. Consolidation could save much of that without hurting the highways, the GAO says.

Combining overlapping ethanol programs could save $5.7 billion a year, and the military could save $460 million annually just by restructuring its health care system.

This is just the kind of data that members of Congress should be looking at when assembling a federal budget that distinguishes between important services and waste.

Instead, we see the budget debate turning into an opportunity for political posturing and arguing over hot-button “cuts” that save little real money and don’t get to the real drivers of federal spending.

No one should be lulled into believing that the federal budget could be balanced simply by trimming duplicate programs, but that’s where the process should start.

The GAO report on redundancies gives members of Congress something to work from. If they are not willing to make these cuts, they should be ready to say why not.