Crisis in Government

"There are too many decision-makers, too much central clearance, too many bases to touch, and too many overseers with conflicting agendas...accountability is hard to discern and harder still to enforce."

1. The federal government has the most confusing hierarchy in history; President Obama entered office overseeing at least 64 discrete titles just at the top of the government.

2. A quarter to a half of these layers are filled with political appointees, each of whom must go through an agonizing approval process.

3. Front-line government employees have expressed serious concerns about their jobs; agencies are not able to recruit employees with the right skills.

4. The government is increasingly dependent on a huge workforce of employees who operate in the shadows. The number of federal contractors grew by 7.5 million by FY 2005.

The Real Crisis in Government
by Paul Light
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103255.html