August 6, 2010 5:34PM # This Week in Government Failure By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) --- SHARE Over at [Downsizing Government](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/), we focused on the following issues this week: - You know that California city that recently made national headlines because local government officials were collecting massive six-figure salaries? It turns out that the [city has received millions of dollars in federal subsidies](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/city-bell-federal-dole) over the past five years. - Money-losing [Amtrak](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/amtraks-new-rail-cars) plans to purchase 130 rail cars for its money-losing trains. Ah, government rail. - Voters who are expecting a [new Republican congressional majority](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/the-two-gops) to downsize government might not want to hold their breath. - [Federal highway financing](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/convoluted-highway-funding) and control should be devolved to the states and, even better, the private sector. - The latest [federal bailout](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/another-government-bailout) isn’t about “America’s children” as White House demagogues claim. Children shouldn’t trust strangers with candy — or Uncle Sam. Downsizing the Federal Government is also on Facebook. Join us [here](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Downsizing-the-Federal-Government/26635669039). ##### Related Tags [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).