February 11, 2011 2:22PM 

# This Week in Government Failure 

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

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

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

- Another example of [cost overruns](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/cost-overruns-national-archives) and mismanagement in government. This time it’s the National Archives.
- President Obama will release his budget blueprint for fiscal 2012 next week. If an [op-ed penned by his budget director](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/omb-director-lew-new-budget) is any indication, the administration intends to continue fiddling while the government’s finances burn.
- End, don’t mend, the dozens of wasteful federal [job training programs](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/abolish-federal-job-training-programs).
- With House Republicans and the White House proposing tiny cuts, get ready for a barrage of [slasher stories](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/slashing-popular-programs-contest) in the press. Readers are invited to submit the best (worst?) “slasher story” they come across.
- Vice President [Joe Biden’s recent pitch for high-speed rail](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hsr-joe-biden-channels-the-simpsons) brings to mind the classic *Simpsons* episode in which a con-man convinces the town’s residents to waste money on an exciting-sounding high-speed train that turns out to be a boondoggle. Watch the clip and judge for yourself.

##### 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/).