from National Review Online, Jim Geraghty writes Why Liberals Can’t Govern:

That argument is strongly disputed, but the Obama administration has proven the flip side of the coin: Liberals’ belief in the inherent goodness of a far-reaching federal government drives them to avert their eyes from its wildest abuses, even when it’s occurring right in front of them. Waste and mismanagement are ignored, dismissed, downplayed, and excused, because confronting it too directly would undermine the central tenet of their worldview: That the federal government is an irreplaceable tool for making the world a better place.

Members of the Obama administration judge the federal bureaucracy the way they want the electorate to judge them: by their good intentions, not their actual results.

HKO

We find that centralizing economic decisions does not solve the economic problems, it just creates a decider that is further removed from any accountability.  Political self interest can be more corrupt and damaging than economic self interest, and slower to correct excesses and mistakes.  Competence, more training, and empty gestures for accountability  will not save or correct bad laws and flawed institutions.  The ends do not justify the means.  The road to hell is paved by good intentions. Private virtues can become public vices.

A central government for a land that is as diverse and large as our, that expands its mission into every nook and cranny of our lives is nearly impossible to control and prone to corruption, no matter which party is in control.

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