The federal government is too big. It’s bureaucratic, inefficient, and sometimes inept. One recent study showed that about 75 percent of federal programs intended to help people have little or no effect.
Most large institutions organize and operate with agreed upon goals and a strategic plan. However, politics rarely allows for agreed upon goals except in time of national emergencies. Even then it can be short-lived. There certainly is no strategic plan, everything is done piecemeal or ad hoc.
This piecemeal approach has resulted in wasteful spending and bureaucracy. There are 2,285 domestic federal assistance programs alone. This doesn’t include foreign assistance programs, or defense programs. Does anyone believe all of these programs are well managed, effective, and have sufficient oversight?
I’m sure that many of these programs do good work. But how many of them are ineffective, over-lapping, or unneeded? Surely, there are some duds in the mix. Individually, every program can probably be justified. But collectively, there is no way.
Every program spawns more federal employees. Over the past 15-20 years, many corporations have streamlined operations while eliminating several layers of management. Yet, the federal government continues to add layers and personnel, with many departments and employees performing non-essential functions.
These programs also spew thousands of pages of federal regulations – all in tiny print! Compliance with some byzantine regulations creates a mountain of paperwork, is a drain on resources, and can be a real impediment to effectiveness and efficiency.
Having owned a highly regulated business for 29 years, I have first-hand experience working with federal, state, and local governments. I understand the frustrations and expense of dealing with complex regulations that are voluminous, overlapping and contradictory (between agencies), or illogical and incomprehensible.
I am not anti-regulation. Every program accessing government funding needs effective oversight. Reasonable and proper regulations provide the necessary ground rules needed to ensure that everyone plays by the rules, and to prevent fraud and abuse. But sometimes, regulations are so onerous and overreaching that the cure is worse than the disease.
These programs also dole out lots of federal money. Too much money. Given our leviathan national debt, we certainly can’t afford all of them.
Most of this money goes to state and local governments, businesses, non-profits, and charitable organizations. Of course, all of these organizations have to balance their budgets or operate in the black, but not the federal government – it doesn’t have to balance its budget, so it spends with fiscal impunity.
When federal lawmakers control seemingly unlimited funds that isn’t their money, there are few incentives to spend it wisely, and leads to misguided priorities. Since getting re-elected is most important, they tend to look out for the best interests of big campaign donors, first. Their district or state comes second, and the country, third.
A legislator looking out for their state or district is not necessarily a bad thing, but what about the greater-good of the country? Shouldn’t we be more concerned about spending our grandkids money, than just bringing home the bacon?
This system of piecemeal programs and overspending flourishes because it rewards politicians. There are enticements for pushing through new programs, especially if they attract campaign contributions – even if they enrich special interests. There’s also pressure to protect existing programs for donors – constituents or not…worthy or not.
This may be somewhat cynical, but several reports state that most members of Congress spend more time on fundraising than anything else. Non-stop fundraising makes it easier for big donors and special interest groups to gain privileged access to legislators and have undue influence in policymaking.
Even conservative politicians tend to go along with these programs because of the political windfalls they bestow.
If a program doesn’t work or money is misspent it’s someone else’s fault – usually the other political party.
This profusion of programs, and the illusion of unlimited funding, have resulted in too much of the federal government becoming an unmanageable labyrinth of ineptitude. The overall system is a Rube Goldberg inspired patchwork of non-prioritized programs, funded by a jerry-rigged spending process with insufficient transparency, and approved by people with minimal accountability. God help us.
All of this money and complexity has slowly and insidiously weaved its way into almost every part of the economy and our lives. A tangled web of red-tape, bureaucracy, and overindulgence has evolved over the past 60-80 years; entrapping and addicting us to benefits and services we can’t afford and don’t need.
Can it be undone? Has the tangled web become a Gordian knot?
Next blog: Can the Gordian knot be untied?