C J Campbell wrote:

Well, we can start with the education system, which is excessively top
heavy. We seem to be getting a lot less for the dollar every year. Around
here the typical school administrator or high school principal has an office
that rivals that of a senior partner in a large law firm, even while the
teachers are badly underpaid. That sends a rather contradictory message. The
taxpayers who are paying for this stuff would sure like to have offices like
that.
[snip]
Those will do for starters; I can probably think of several more. The IMF,
for example.

It will probably come as a major shock to you, but I actually agree
with some of your
targets. In fact, there are some things that I would add to your list.
Of course, you have
some items there I believe are justifiable expenses, just as my list
will probably contain
a few of your 'sacred cows'.

When you get down to it, government spending - no matter how small -
will always have
something that someone will complain about. The best we can do is try to
reach some sort
of consensus that minimizes the overall level of complaint.

There are two other things we can do as individuals too, I suppose.
One is to demand a
complete and honest accounting of where the government's revenue comes
from and
where it goes (no unrealistically optimistic assumptions). The other is
to stop demanding
that our representatives "bring home the bacon", and start rewarding the
ones that
balance revenue and expenditures.

(Contrary to what so many like to think, it isn't Congress that's
causing the unbalanced
budget, or the president. It's you and me, demanding that our
representatives bring home
our pork while cutting everything to the bone for everyone else.)

Rich Lemert