Sadly, the intrusion of politics and all that is bad about politics has found its way into government’s bureaucracy. On the federal level this intrusion, which has been ongoing for many administrations, has degraded the efficiency and integrity of those persons working in the government.  Federal government scandals in the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Election Commission, the Veterans Administration, National Security Agency and the State Department along with the political bias of federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department, the Defense Department and the FBI have created the strong impression that few in government are competent, impartial and honest.  Every department seems to have an agenda and this leads to the conclusion that these departments must be reformed or abolished.  The emphasis of these agencies is perceived to be the abuse of power to use government force.

Bureaucracy should be shared between the legislative and executive branches. The legislative branch should support the drafting, issuing the law and writing the regulations that will determine how the law should be implemented.  The executive branch should be entrusted only with the enforcement of the laws and regulations issued by the legislative branch.  In past years the legislative branch has stupidly abdicated their regulation writing to the executive branch and then they complain about what has resulted.  Committee oversight is similar to locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen.  How dumb can you be?  The constitution implies that all three branches of government have bureaucracies that assist in law making, law enforcement and adjudication of those laws.  When the legislative branch foolishly forfeits their regulation writing rights to the executive branch, they can and have become a non equal branch of government.  Current practice puts the burden of vetoing regulations on the Congress possibly months after passage of the law and requires both the House and Senate to agree.  A more reasonable procedure would be to let the President veto the regulations which the Congress could overturn with a 2/3 vote in both houses.  This could delay the implementation of regulations but, to me, that would be good because every regulation issued costs some taxpayer money even if it is only to read the regulation.  Do you think that the Congress will do something right for a change?  It is doubtful and it is no wonder the executive branch runs wild with little to no restraint with hundreds of regulations that stifle freedom and economic growth.  Politics are the problem.  Right and wrong never seem to be considered.

Bureaucratic hiring practices are a problem. The bureaucracy seems to think that attorneys must fill most positions.  For a scientific problem, don’t you think that a person with a scientific degree and some experience in the field would be better suited to do the job?  Scientists will do a much better job of solving scientific problems than an attorney who doesn’t know the science.  But we must remember that many bureaucratic positions are filled by political appointees whose only qualification is that they raised enough money to get the current administration elected.  Politics raises its ugly head once more.

As for cost/benefit analysis and cost control, the current bureaucracy does not seem to understand what that is. In addition, no bureaucrat is ever penalized for poor performance or indicted for breaking the law.  And government wants the people to trust them?  That will happen only if the electorate are uniformed and stupid.

With all this incompetence in the bureaucracy, it is time to limit how long a bureaucrat can work in government. Term limits of 10 years maximum are needed for them.  An exception to that rule might be the military and our first responders.

In addition, all bureaucrats and politicians without exception must convert all accrued pension benefits into a 401k and handle their pensions like the rest of the country. No special health benefits either.