One more reason: loud minorities. Almost everybody agrees that the federal government is too big, or at least too expensive. (Ask "do you want to pay for all

One more reason: loud minorities. Almost everybody agrees that the federal government is too big, or at least too expensive. (Ask "do you want to pay for all that the government is doing?" You will get very few "yes" responses.) The problem comes with what to cut. Do you want to cut, say, the merchant marine? Very few people care about it. But the ones who do are much more vehement that it must remain than others are that it should be cut. Their intensity wins even if their numbers say they should not. And so it is with virtually every other line item in the federal budget. The result is that nothing can be cut.