The Bloated Bureaucracy Blues

Those who know me are aware that there are various things that I strongly dislike – to put it mildly – and bureaucracies would have to be at the top of my list. As I have stated more than once (somewhat with tongue in cheek), if you want to know what hell will be like, just think of being imprisoned forever in an inept, corrupt and out-of-control government bureaucracy.

Folks who lived under Communist regimes have certainly known all about this, as have many others. So great is my abhorrence of all things bureaucratic, that I once wrote a satirical (and hopefully mildly humorous) piece on bureaucracies in general and filling in forms in particular.

The urgent need to tackle and dismantle bureaucracies is ever with us. Recall that the Grace Commission report was authorised by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 in the attempt to discover and eliminate government waste and inefficiencies. Led by businessman J. Peter Grace, the report appeared two years later, arguing that $424 billion could be saved in three years. At least some of the recommendations were implemented over that period.

Of interest, a phrase so popular with Donald Trump, “drain the swamp,” was used by Reagan as he initiated this important endeavour. Now, Trump is doing more of the same. He of course had called for swamp draining in his first term, but he is now getting hardcore about it all, having created a new Department of Government Efficiency, headed up by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

They have already stated that they will take to this task with relish, and be ruthless in weeding out corruption, waste, mismanagement, and gross incompetence. And even better yet, as I stated yesterday in an article on the anti-woke revolution, they have already nominated some vital areas well worth cutting. They have proposed cutting $300 million that the Planned Parenthood abortion business gets in federal taxpayer dollars. Already PP is up in arms about all this. One report says this:

Under Joe Biden, Planned Parenthood received a record $750 million of taxpayer funding while performing a record 392,000 abortions just last year. The so-called nonprofit now gets roughly one-third of its total income from the federal government.

And the radical abortion activists at Planned Parenthood are not happy about losing their slush fund. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, trashed the two conservatives in a new statement.

“President-elect Trump isn’t nominating leaders, he is surrounding himself with unqualified fanboys and agents of chaos,” she said in a statement LifeNews.com obtained. She continued the longstanding Planned Parenthood absurdity of calling the killing of babies in abortions “health care.”

“Musk and Ramaswamy are making clear how they intend to use their power: denying people care and wreaking havoc on our public health system, of which Planned Parenthood is an integral part — all in the name of supposed ‘government efficiency,’” Johnson griped. The abortion activist promised to fend off their defunding pledge.

Three cheers for Musk and Ramaswamy! I for one am absolutely ecstatic about what other things these guys will be getting up to. Simply knowing that zillions of Washington bureaucrats must be shaking in their boots right now as the pair seek to radically drain the corrupt and bloated swamp makes me giddy just thinking about it.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago, the two men shared their vision of what they hope to accomplish:

Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.

This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers. Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem. On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it.

President Trump has asked the two of us to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.

We are assisting the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America. This team will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget. The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings. We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws. Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.

Examples of government waste, inefficiency and mismanagement

There is without question plenty of swamp draining that is vitally needed. Far too many examples can be cited here. Earlier this year for example a list of just seven items was discussed, which I simply present here in bullet point form:

7 Ridiculous Examples of Government Waste in 2023

1) $659 Billion for Interest on the National Debt

2) $6 Million to Boost Egyptian Tourism

3) Training DHS Employees to Be Their ‘Authentic & Best Selves’

4) $38 Million to Dead People

5) $8,395 for a Lobster Tank

6) Two Graphic Novels Combating ‘Disinformation’

7) $200 Million to Famous Music Artists from the ‘Small Business’ Administration

You can read the details about those examples here.

Last week Charlie Kirk posted this on X:

Here are just 15 examples of government waste. Change is coming…

1. Payments to Deceased Individuals: The federal government has disbursed approximately $1.3 billion to individuals who are no longer alive, highlighting significant inefficiencies in payment systems.
2. Unemployment and Social Security Payments to Prisoners: An estimated $171 million has been improperly paid to incarcerated individuals, underscoring vulnerabilities in benefit distribution processes.
3. Medicaid and Medicare Fraud: Fraudulent activities within Medicaid and Medicare programs have resulted in losses of about $101 billion, indicating a need for stricter oversight and fraud prevention measures.
4. Extravagant Government Travel: For instance, a trip by the Biden administration to Ireland cost taxpayers $4 million, raising questions about the necessity and cost-effectiveness of such expenditures.
5. Maintenance of Underutilized Federal Buildings: The government spends approximately $2 billion annually on buildings that are underused or vacant, suggesting a need for better asset management.
6. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives: Around $38.7 million has been allocated to DEI hires, prompting debates about the effectiveness and necessity of such spending.
7. Weapons for Non-Military Agencies: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has spent $620,000 on weapons, raising concerns about the militarization of civilian agencies.
8. Tax Delinquencies by IRS Employees: Internal Revenue Service employees have accumulated $50 million in unpaid taxes, highlighting issues within the agency responsible for tax collection.
9. Research on Russian Cats: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocated $549,000 to study the movement of Russian cats on treadmills, a project criticized for its questionable value.
10. Transgender Monkeys Research: The NIH also spent $477,000 on studies involving transgender monkeys, sparking debates over the relevance and ethics of such research.
11. Drag Shows in Ecuador: A State Department grant of $20,600 funded drag shows in Ecuador, leading to discussions about the appropriateness of funding cultural events abroad.
12. Improper Payments in Federal Programs: In fiscal year 2020, the government made $98 billion in improper payments, including overpayments and underpayments, indicating systemic issues in financial management.
13. Overpayments in Medicare and Medicaid: Improper payments in these programs have been a persistent issue, with billions lost annually due to fraud and errors.
14. Unused Military Equipment: The Department of Defense has been criticized for spending billions on equipment that remains unused or is obsolete, reflecting inefficiencies in defense procurement.
15. Excessive Spending on Public Relations: Federal agencies have spent over $4.5 billion on public relations and advertising, raising questions about the necessity and impact of such expenditures.

The American humourist Evan Esar once quipped that “Bureaucracy is more people doing less things, and taking more time to do them worse.” It is hoped that Musk and Co can turn things around radically in this regard. Yes, entrenched bureaucrats who have been living the good life at taxpayer expense will not want to go without a fight, but no nation can long last with big government getting ever bigger, and corrupt and bloated bureaucracies getting ever more corrupt and more bloated.

I wish these gentlemen all the very best.