October 8, 2010 4:44PM # 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: - The variation in [welfare](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/welfare-and-fiscal-federalism) enrollment among the states points to the desirability of handing off all responsibility for anti-poverty programs to the states. - A recent stack of audits is a reminder of the bureaucratic bungling that comes with [government programs](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hud-auditor-finds-problems), particularly at HUD. - Instead of spreading [transportation subsidies](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/unfair-subsidies-buses) across every form of transportation, the federal government should cease with the seemingly endless interventions and allow free individuals to figure out what makes the most sense. - We celebrate the beginning of hockey season with a look at fiscal policy north of the border. First, the [Canadian economy](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/canadas-spending-cuts-economic-growth) boomed during the 1990s and 2000s as government spending was dramatically reduced. Second, the [Canadian experience](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/cutting-government-canadian-way) illustrates that a lot of progress can be made if even modest cuts are implemented and then spending is constrained so that it grows at a slower rate than the overall economy. ##### 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/).