How so? What are examples of it being too large and self-serving and not having enough accountability?
How so? What are examples of it being too large and self-serving and not having enough accountability?
As a leaning moderate/libertarian and as a RETIRED middle manager from a 100 plus year, fortune 500 company Ive experience many management approaches over the years and believe that centralized Government and Corporations are all about control and cost reduction at the expense of more region expertise and services. Thus I am more for a de-centralized efficient approach that allows for quicker response in addressing cost and competitiveness with people being the recipients of improve service form regional benefits and differences. I favor more State and local Government. The following are few points that I endorse to a degree but Ive always been about balance and efficiency and accountability. These are not written by me but from an article I read several years ago.:
American businesses have become leaner in recent decades, with flatter managements. By contrast, the number of layers of federal management has greatly increased. Overlaying stifles information flow and makes it harder to hold people accountable.
The federal government is not just large in size, it is sprawling in scope. In addition to handling core functions such as national defense, the government, as noted, runs more than 2,300 subsidy and benefit programs. It has spread its tentacles into many state, local and private activities, such as education, energy, welfare, housing and urban transit.
The government is doing too much and doing little well. It is like a conglomerate corporation involved in so many activities that executives are distracted from their core business. Markets force bloated corporations to refocus and shed their low-value activities, but no mechanism forces the federal government to do so.
The more programs the government has, the more likely they will work at cross purposes. Some federal programs keep food prices high, while others subsidize food for people with low incomes. Some programs encourage people to live in risky flood areas, while others try to reduce flood risks. The government promotes breastfeeding, but it also subsidizes baby formula. Many programs subsidize healthcare and infrastructure, but regulations raise the costs of those activities.
The solution is to stop centralizing power in Washington, and to begin shifting activities back to the states. State and local governments suffer failures, but their failures are not thrust onto the whole nation. When policies fail in some states, other states can learn the lessons and pursue different strategies. States compete with each other for people and investment, which creates continuous pressure to reform.
large majorities of people prefer state over federal control of education, housing, transportation, welfare, health insurance and other activities. People think that state and local governments provide more competent service than the federal government. And when asked which level of government gives them the best value for their taxes, two-thirds of people say state and local governments and just one-third say the federal government.
In sum, political and bureaucratic incentives and the huge size of the federal government cause endemic failure. The causes of failure are structural, and they will not be solved by appointing more competent officials or putting a different party in charge. Americans are deeply unhappy with the way that Washington works, and everyone agrees that we need better governance. The only way to achieve it is to greatly cut the federal government's size and scope.
If congress over the years wasn't so tied up in appeasing lobbyist for votes and other spiffs then possibly they could focus more on the job at hand with respect to managing, but they really dont.
Just some thoughts.
Thanks for asking...