December 31, 2010 11:00AM 

# 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:

- A high priority for the new Congress should be to privatize the [Federal Aviation Administration](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/privatize-faa).
- It seems clear that allowing the private sector to play a greater role in space is ideal, especially given [NASA’s history of fiscal mismanagement](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/can-nasa-compete-with-spacex).
- [Earmarking](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/beyond-anti-earmark-crusade) is a *symptom* of the problem. The problem *is the existence of programs* that enable the federal government to spend money on parochial activities.
- The [Beltway class](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/a-happier-new-year-beltway) will be starting the New Year off in better shape than the rest of the country.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make the [Downsizing Government](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/) website a success this year. Now it’s time to get cocked, locked, and ready to rock with the new Congress.

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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