Brian Gongol
If you were designing government today, is this how you'd build it?
A President without a BlackBerry or an e-mail address
Patronage jobs numbering in the thousands (see the Plum Book for a listing of jobs)
Inflexibility going in or out of government, unless you work in the sphere (think tanks, campaigns, staff, etc.)
Constant media feedback, but little or none of it constructive
Institutional bias against innovation and "outsider" ideas
Unresponsiveness to local flavors and customs, with most policies imposed on 300 million people as though they enjoy a monolithic roster of habits and preferences
Zero short-term accountability for long-term debts
If there were any more possible ways to ensure that government would be incapable of dealing with today's problems, it seems hard to imagine. The solution isn't about turning the White House into a Facebook Presidency, but about thinking through what we really put in and what we really get out of the institution that captures a third of our national economy.
Bottled water can't fight fires
