I have previously pointed out that the problem with government in this country is not tyranny, as Tea-Partiers often wildly claim. Rather, the way in which the government is most likely to negatively impact an innocent person in the United States is through the bureaucracy.

Having said that, it’s clear that bureaucracy is one of the best problems to face from a government. Not only that, who oppose it, especially Libertarians, often tend to forget why it exists. What I mean is that bureaucracy and government wastefulness often are talked about as if the latter is a result of the former, though in my experience many irritating bureaucratic rules and regulations exist precisely for the purpose of preventing the waste of resources.

This is why it rings hollow to me when politicians promise to end waste and to reduce the size of government. Sometimes it is necessary to grow government to combat waste.