Republicans have taken up the cause of the taxpayers. Of course, their conversion to the cause of fiscal responsibility came late: President George W. Bush and his GOP Congress squandered money on virtually every program known to man — and some previously unknown ones too. Republicans share the blame for today's fiscal mess. But at least they are now using the phrase "budget cuts" in polite company.It makes me wish for last year's Snowmageddon, which closed the federal government in Washington for an unprecedented four days. Amazingly, the country staggered on without guidance and nurture from Uncle Sam.Start with the Defense Department. Obviously, defending America is vital, one of the few necessary tasks of government. But most of what the Pentagon does these days has nothing to do with protecting America.[Note that the Democrats don't consider the Armed Forces in the field as essential enough to continue their pay during a shutdown.]If the Pentagon isn't going to protect us, then there's a need for something like the Department of Homeland Security. But this bizarre mix of everything from customs to immigration to disaster relief isn't very good at keeping Americans safe. Especially since Congress is most interested in passing out grants as pork and agency bureaucrats prefer to provide "security theatre" to create the illusion of safety. The best policy would be to stop making additional enemies who want to harm Americans by bombing, invading and occupying additional countries.The Department of Veterans Affairs grows out of the Department of Defense, since the federal government has an obligation to care for those wounded in America's wars. But it would be better to integrate their care into the nation's medical system — and especially to make fewer veterans in the future by staying out of stupid and unnecessary conflicts. Yet the Afghanistan war, in particular, continues to generate casualties, creating huge future "unfunded liabilities" for the VA. ...
The Agriculture Department is a special interest bureaucracy par excellence, enriching people because they are farmers. Why do the rest of us owe farmers a living?
The same principle applies to the Commerce Department.
The analysis is similar for the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior. Most federal subsidies for energy have been the equivalent of flushing money down toilets at the DOE headquarters. Big Oil and little green like their respective subsidies, but taxpayers have gotten no benefits commensurate to their forced generosity.
HUD is a piggy bank for developers. No form of residential or commercial building goes unsubsidized. ....
The State Department is legitimate, but much of what it does is not. Misnamed "foreign aid" traditionally takes money from poor people in rich countries and gives it to rich people in poor countries. Indeed, a lot of foreign aid has been counterproductive, discouraging authoritarian and socialist states from adopting desperately needed reforms. The Foreign Service bureaucracy could be further pared if Washington was not attempting to constantly micro-manage other societies. A Vatican-sized embassy in Baghdad is merely the worst example. The American government should have a much smaller foreign footprint.
Not much else the federal government does makes much sense. The Agriculture Department is a special interest bureaucracy par excellence, enriching people because they are farmers. Why do the rest of us owe farmers a living? They work hard, but so do most other Americans. Welfare should be for poor people, not influential people. Department buildings should be sold off for condos.
The same principle applies to the Commerce Department. While some bits of the bureaucracy perform legitimate functions (such as conducting a census for legislative apportionment), most of the department's programs are forms of corporate welfare. American business should make money from customers, not steal money from taxpayers.
The analysis is similar for the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior. Most federal subsidies for energy have been the equivalent of flushing money down toilets at the DOE headquarters. Big Oil and little green like their respective subsidies, but taxpayers have gotten no benefits commensurate to their forced generosity.
HUD is a piggy bank for developers. No form of residential or commercial building goes unsubsidized. Yet the epicenter of the financial crisis was the mass of federal housing subsidies. Interior also enriches interest groups. Most of the land that it manages should be sold off. Environmentally sensitive refuges could be transferred to environmental groups.
The Transportation Department is little better. There are some legitimate interstate transportation issues, but most roads and bridges should be a state and local responsibility. Transportation bills have been among the most ostentatiously wasteful pork dispensed by Congress. There'd be little harm in leaving DOT permanently closed.
There's much more, a confusing and wasteful mix of other departments, independent agencies, and commissions. In the main they are unnecessary, duplicative, bloated, or all three.
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