What Do We Know About Government Waste?

Too much, apparently. And too little.

Examples of government waste abound in the news, and on the web. So much so, that we all take it for granted that government is wasteful. Here's a list of the top ten examples compiled by Heritage four years ago, surely out of date by now, including such old chestnuts as the missing $25 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars of unused flight tickets. 

Yet despite all this information, confidence in government continues to run high. We may complain, but we elect representatives on the right and left who believe government is the best solution, if not the only solution, to every problem. Why the disconnect?

One problem is that all of the examples of government waste we know about are large-scale, and by definition, have already been revealed. Hidden, small-scale fraud, waste, and abuse never appears on our radar screens. This implies that the wasteful bits of government are known, and are generally being addressed.

Thus, even if we cognitively know government waste is pervasive, our experience of it is flawed.

One serious goal of FatCratz is to expose all of us to a more realistic view of government. And to have fun doing it.