I can think of two reasons why people believe governments waste money.
One of those is based on selfishness. In Toronto, for example, many who live in the outlying areas drive cars exclusively. Those people tend to look at any of their taxes used for public transit as a waste. Also, within the past few days we've had a movement to chop libraries, headed by people who don't read and admit to not knowing who a top Canadian author is. The list goes on.
The second is that governments, unfortunately, are very wasteful at an operational level, as opposed to the strategic ones that you mention. Over-specified purchases, ridiculous contracts, under-utilized employees, excess consultant fees, and a host of other things give the impression that the whole spending process is out of control. If they could clean up that image (and practice!) they would give a lot less ammunition to the hack and slash crowd.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-31 11:19 am (UTC)One of those is based on selfishness. In Toronto, for example, many who live in the outlying areas drive cars exclusively. Those people tend to look at any of their taxes used for public transit as a waste. Also, within the past few days we've had a movement to chop libraries, headed by people who don't read and admit to not knowing who a top Canadian author is. The list goes on.
The second is that governments, unfortunately, are very wasteful at an operational level, as opposed to the strategic ones that you mention. Over-specified purchases, ridiculous contracts, under-utilized employees, excess consultant fees, and a host of other things give the impression that the whole spending process is out of control. If they could clean up that image (and practice!) they would give a lot less ammunition to the hack and slash crowd.