How do we end up with all these incredibly byzantine, convoluted, fucked-up laws and government programs?
The recent health care law is just the latest in a long line of examples. Whatever you may believe about the extent to which it benefits our less fortunate citizens, one thing isn't arguable: It heaps a huge new helping of complexity and costs onto an already grossly inefficient and non-transparent health care delivery system.
Another example is our horrifically complex and fucked-up tax code. There's broad agreement on both the left and right that it's a national embarrassment. Yet sensible efforts to reform it never go anywhere. (That might limit the prospects of passing out political favors, a practice enjoyed by so many corrupt hacks.)
The financial "reform" legislation of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) is yet another abject failure. Although it contains some worthwhile provisions, it does nothing meaningful about TBTF, the biggest risk of all to the financial system. The law does far more harm to community banks -- which historically have provided much of the lifeblood to small businesses -- than to the half-dozen largest banks in the nation, which are now in the aggregate more than 50% larger than they were in 2008.
And, of course, there are many more.
I think the author makes a number of pretty good points in this article:
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publi...acy-in-america
(The writer uses the term "kludgeocracy." Perhaps "clusterfuckocracy" would not be the best choice for a family-friendly publication, although I think it's quite apropos.)
And there's plenty to displease both conservatives and liberals.