Bureaucratic Pathology

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The concept of bureaucratic pathologies is not a new one. Profuse spending by dignitaries, flamboyant parties, and lackadaisical responses to the nation’s critical issues have been problematic to the United States for decades. A bureaucratic pathology is the failure of the government or of any department of the government to fulfill the purposes for which it was designed. Government waste and extravagant spending, duplication and conflict between agencies are some examples of these pathologies.
Some Americans have misgivings of an incompetent and unresponsive government. Stories of the slow response of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in the aftermath and devastation of Hurricane Katrina; an Affordable Care Act website that failed to work properly months after its initiation; combined with the disgraceful actions of Bill Clinton, and the now infamous “read my lips – no new taxes” one liner of George Bush, Sr. all serve to compound these beliefs. While each President has many admirable actions, unfortunately it is the “bad apples” that get the most notoriety and add fuel to the fire of purported incompetence.
In an era when the President of the United States continuously affirms his stance and promises to reduce waste in the government, one would think that there would be a little, if any, careless squandering of the American taxpayer’s money. In fact, on its own website, the White House emphasizes this asseveration, stating “President Obama has led the way on structuring the government to live within its means through a balanced approach that protects key priorities and ensures that everyone pays their fair share” (Reform). On the contrary, even with the cuts in expenditures that already have been put in place, ...

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... Patrick Temple-West. "IRS Officials Try to Tame Conference Spending
Scandal." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 06 June 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Harris, Kelsey. "15 Pictures of Ridiculous Government Spending Guaranteed to Make You
Mad." The Foundry Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
“Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and
Enhance Revenue.” (2011, March 1). In United States Government Accountability Office. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11318sp.pdf
"Reform & Fiscal Responsibility." The White House. The White House

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