>> I do believe that, sincerely.
Medicare - Between 50 and 100 Trillion in debt; no hope of a continued existence for young people who are now paying into the system.
Social Security - About 10 Trillion in debt after having broken, in a massive way, its social contract in 1981 and facing another massive tax increase to become solvent in the next couple of decades.
VA - Patients dying while waiting to see a doctor while the organization spends hundreds of millions of dollars on solar panels.
War on Drugs - We have spent far in excess of $1 Trillion on the so-called "War on Drugs" and the crisis of drug addiction is at a peak, individual rights have been horribly eroded by law enforcement pushing the limits of the courts; and worst of all, there is absolutely NO political will to end it. It has had a considerable role in taking the US from a land of freedom to the highest level of incarceration of all developed countries, where more than half of those imprisoned are re-incarcerated within 3 years of release. Is that what success looks like to you?
Dept. of Education - As annual expenditures have grown from $10B in 1980 to $73B (+ $100B in student loan debt) in 2012 the quality of American's education has declined, and some informed commentators are actually raising the question of whether college education is "worth it".
EPA - EPA regulation has expanded to such an extent that projects like, e.g., Hoover Dam, could not even be built today. Oil refineries are almost impossible to get permitted. And as the most backward result one can conjure up, the failure to approve the Keystone XL has resulted in the oil being shipped by a MORE ECOLOGICALLY DANGEROUS METHOD -- by rail.
Obamacare - Obamacare, arguably the worst government program in history, is now such a mess that CBO has flatly stated that they can no longer even ESTIMATE how badly the costs are out of control because the program is so mangled. As one who has worked with the health care finance system for over 20 years, I can tell you that it isn't working. Doctors are running from it; the real cost of health insurance is moving much higher, and the legislation itself is structured so that these costs will be tacked on to an already burgeoning national debt at levels CBO has only said are "unsustainable."
These are a few of hundreds of examples of abject failures that you're blaming on the people who work there. The reality is that the failure is an organizational one which results from a non-functional bureaucracy that allows failure not only to exist but to multiply.
>> Because we need them, to provide common good and keep each other in line.
No one I know of is arguing that we shouldn't have a government. But it is self-evident that our government has grown too big to function effectively. This is not unheard of; larger organization are inherently more difficult to run because there is so many layers of separation between the higher-ups and the low-level employees who make things work.
When you add in public sector unions, you create an organization inertia that literally cannot be controlled. Excellent administrators do better than poor ones, but every organization is at some point going to have poor administration. When that happens, as it ultimately will, the wheels come off, which is what we're now witnessing.
We don't know at this point whether the toothpaste can be put back into the tube after an administrative failure of this magnitude.
>> But the libertarian folks need to recognize the benefits, not just go all nuts over their "freedoms" being infringed.
This comment is particularly difficult to understand in light of the failure of government that has occurred. These libertarians have pretty reasonable concerns given what has happened as it is evident that as our government has grown it has continued to usurp individual rights and freedoms. And now, we have a president who is essentially ignoring the law and doing as he damned well pleases.
I don't think you gave much thought to my question. But if you did, I think you would find your position to be pretty indefensible. |
