Now, I'm not one to complain that government never works. The main problems with government are a failure to do its business in the light of day, and the creeping bureaucracy that causes more and more rules to be developed to solve every conceiveable problem and protect them from every idiot member of the entity or the public. GM, IBM, Microsoft, are no different and not much better, even when they are able to turn a profit - it's just a function of size. [Sorry, but free market capitalism doesn't result in efficiency, it just results in profits - these are not the same thing]
That said, my current gripe is with the local County Recorder's Office. You know those deeds to your property that get recorded to show the world you own it? Well, in most jurisdictions these are done on forms, and in the upper right hand corner there is a blank box where the recorder puts his stamp showing where it was recorded in the county's records, for all posterity to read.
In our county, they want a big, blank box in that space - usually larger than the space on forms used by title companies, escrow companies and lawyers, forcing customers to attach a cover sheet [and pay an extra $3] to give the recorder enough room for the stamp [presumably so they don't have to take aim, but can just whack away].
In one of our divorce cases, we tried to record a deed that didn't quite meet the 2 1/2" by 5" standard - our form's box was only 2 3/8" by 4 3/4", but my paralegal figured it was "close enough for government work" and why pay the extra 3 bucks. Needless to say, it bounced - the recorder was kind enough to include a sample cover sheet for us to use when they returned the deed, unrecorded. The box on that form was 2 3/4" tall [OK, so far], but only 4 1/2" wide - 1/2" shy of their own requirement. Go figure.
Yes, we could have saved the extra effort to resend it by typing up a form for a cover sheet and sending them the extra $3 in the first place, but there's something wrong with the process if they can't even follow their own rule.
One side of the debate can argue this is why government needs to be abolished - the other side says give government enough money to hire people who can think. Let's start at the top of the organization and work the changes down the chain of command until you get to the person who actually weilds the ruler - tell that guy to get a life, or get out.
