I don’t think the government would be getting quality contractors to do the work to sort this out. They would be getting the lowest bidders who have a political

I don’t think the government would be getting quality contractors to do the work to sort this out. They would be getting the lowest bidders who have a political axe to grind or an interest in inflating the contracts into a never-ending project with little to show for it, and offshore workers with little experience. Just like every other government IT iniative. Additionally, that would give the government direct access to a lot of sensitive information that people don’t really want them to have. While it probably has under-the-table access right now, do you really think having overt access is any better? If the thought of having the government running a search engine, even at arms length, doesn’t leave you absolutely shitting yourself in terror, you have issues.