“Government” and “Efficiency” . . . two words seldom found together

In recent weeks, two fellow bloggers have posted strong views on government (in)efficiency.

Aaron, a lawyer blogging at The Shekel, notes that “Your Call Back Time Will Be In Approximately 1,144 Minutes“.

So in short, USCIS has lost an application, refuses to do anything about it, refuses to connect me to anyone who can do something about it and this should in a normal world not take this farging long and this much time to even get to the point to find someone to fix their mistake, and we’re still not there. And all this for a simple I-129 application that should have been granted over two months ago now.

Meanwhile, Illegals can waltz across the border and work illegally with fake social security numbers have no such troubles.

I halfway want to tell the kid to change his name to Sanchez, have his employer pay him under the table, move to California so he gets free healthcare, and everyone will be happy, unfortunately that’s just not good legal advice.

Just wait until government controls your healthcare, expect your service times and levels of customer service to be similar.

There’s more at the link.

I can only sympathize with Aaron’s (and his client’s) predicament.  I ran headlong into administrative issues at the USCIS when first applying for U.S. citizenship, some years ago.  I won’t go into detail, but basically it involved different (and conflicting) requirements and regulations at the USCIS and the IRS.  The officials concerned, in both departments, absolutely refused to understand or accept that I was the meat in a bureaucratic sandwich, trying to satisfy requirements that were mutually contradictory.  I eventually gave up, and waited another five or six years until I’d been able to build up new records that finally satisfied the USCIS’s requirements.  Only then could I apply for citizenship (which was recently granted).

Next, Borepatch points out that bureaucrats have done nothing, for the past 40-odd years, to solve an ongoing problem whose solution is not hard to understand.

For those readers who blessedly have not had to drive I-95, it is a national disgrace.  It has been congested for as long as I can recall (over 30 years of personal experience with the stretch shown, and what we drove yesterday).  It has been congested in exactly the same locations for those 30 years.

The same exact locations.  30 years.  Offered for your consideration, the 20 miles on each side of Fredericksburg, VA.  It was a parking lot in the 1980s; it was a parking lot yesterday.  The reason then was that the highway lost a lane (more lanes in Richmond to the south and Washington to the north).  The reason now is the same.

So riddle me this, Big Government Man: how in 30 years is it not possible to widen 40 miles of Interstate to remove what everybody in the Northeast Corridor knows is a notorious choke point?

. . .

And yet we have an entire political party running for office on a platform that the government should be responsible for even more of the economy, and of our lives.  They promise even more “services”.  I’d be more impressed if they’d fix I-95.  Granted, that’s a very low bar, but they can’t even seem to do that.

Again, more at the link.

Bill Bonner wrote an essay a few years ago titled “The A to A of Government Inefficiency“.  Go read it.  Nothing’s changed.  Similarly, Monty Pelerin (a pseudonym) pointed out some years ago, during the Obama administration, that “Government Ain’t Fixable“.

Government is too far gone and too deeply entrenched. It is a gigantic blob immune to common sense, cost control or the will of the citizens it pretends to serve. People are expected to serve it, a complete contradiction of the stated goal of the Founders. It grows and enriches itself (and its members) simply because it can.  It is no different from an unaccountable criminal enterprise, exempting itself from laws it imposes on others. In point of fact, it is less efficient than organized crime which must generate a profit under less than ideal circumstances. Most Mafia-run businesses provide a service or value to their customers in excess of what it costs. Government has not need to do so and is especially ineffective and inefficient.

Government is Leviathan. It looks out for itself and no one person or small group can alter that condition.

. . .

Everyone has heard more than their share of stories about government inefficiency and stupidity. It is difficult to point to any government agency run effectively or achieving the ends for which it was created. The War on Poverty has increased poverty. The Department of Education was formed at the peak of educational effectiveness and everything has gone downhill since. What does the Department of Energy do besides make it more difficult to achieve more energy? The Internal Revenue Service has become a political tool to hammer opponents who do not hold the presidency. Hasn’t the Veteran’s Administration done a wonderful job for the medical care of our veterans? ObamaCare has driven health-care costs through the roof and put a damper on the creation of jobs like nothing else.

More at the link.

One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to cut two government regulations for every new one that was enacted.  So far, he appears to be doing rather better than that, by a ratio of 12-to-1.  That may end up being one of his signature accomplishments, and most important contributions to our future well-being . . . provided that a future President doesn’t put ’em all back again!

Peter