March 12, 2010 12:14PM 

# This Week in Government Failure 

By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) 

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Over at [Downsizing Government](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/), we focused on the following issues this week:

- Six reasons to [downsize](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/six-reasons-downsize) Washington.
- The chances of a taxpayer [bailout for the FHA](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/reassessing-fha-risk) are probably larger than it wants to admit.
- The same people that say [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/fannie-freddie-peter-and-barney) shouldn’t be on the government’s books are often the same people who once dismissed concerns that the two companies were headed toward financial ruin.
- Here’s a shocker: the private sector does a better job of fighting [fraud](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/a-tale-two-frauds) than the government.
- [Bailing out state and local governments](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/another-state-and-local-bailout) creates a disincentive for state and local policymakers to implement necessary reforms to get their budgets and future liabilities under control.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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