Government efficiency?

Sometimes I donÂ?t know whether to laugh or cry when I read peopleÂ?s comments about the Federal GovernmentsÂ? response to Katrina. It seems as though many Americans think the government should be almost flawless in its execution after a national tragedy. Just try working with any government agency and see how efficient they are.

My wifeÂ?s mother recently moved into a nursing home so we are trying to work with Medicare and her insurance. After numerous calls to faceless members of the Medicare bureaucracy, we are more confused than ever. No two people ever give us the same answer. Medicare refuses to speak with the insurance company because of Â?privacyÂ? issues. The refuse to send the many, many pages of refused medical bills on to the insurance company. Why? We do not know. So we must redo all the forms and re-mail them. They are agonizingly slow and lose a many of the documents we send in to them. This is normal business as usual in a government agency-.

This summer I misplaced my wallet and I needed the driverÂ?s license to get a visa to Russia. In order to get a new license, the Ohio license bureau said I needed my Social Security card. I had my birth certificate but that was insufficient. I protested that the Social Security card could not be used as an identity card but the state of Ohio knows best.

So, I drove with my friend from Norway to get a new Social Security card. Once there I waited for hours in a dreary building with dozens of other beaten down Americans. The customer service was harcondensationssending. A women clerk scolded me severely for carrying my SS card in my wallet. "Don't you know that is wrong?" she pouted. I attempted weakly to protest that the state of Ohio requires me to carry it but simply nodded and mumbled something about my being her humble servant.

Jens and I were involved for an entire day in this project and all I needed was a new driverÂ?s license. Had I been hungry, thirsty and tired it would have seemed interminable and painful. Perhaps I should have called the White House and put the President on the carpet for not being there when I needed a friend. But this is the norm in every agency in every crisis in every area in every administration.

Some Americans think George Bush is such an idiot that he can barely tie his shoes. The FEMA bashers who see a conspiracy, have him as the most brilliant but evil man who ever lived. Mr. Bush himself knew exactly where the poor blacks lived and decided to delay FEMA supplies until thousands were killed and died of starvation. Bush made sure all those poor black people got stuck in the Super Dome where they were victimized by thugs, thieves and rapists.

All you need to do is apply for Social Security or Medicare to be disabused of such ideas. No one runs the government agencies. No one. Not even the very brilliant/very stupid George Bush or his evil henchman Karl Rove. Bureaucracies are run by arcane rules that no one will take personal responsibility to interpret.

But Bush learned the irrational message sent by media fear mongers and went to Rita immediately to give us the perception that he was on the job. Do we really want the head of our government doing hands on administration of emergency matters? NO! Good leaders point us in the right direction, choose the right people and get out of the way.

From now on Presidents will be burdened with a public and media expectancy of being on the ground to personally supervise the running of every crisis. That is organizational madness.