April 22, 2011 3:01PM # This Week in Government Failure By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) --- SHARE Over at [Downsizing the Federal Government](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/), we focused on the following issues this week: - [Paul Ryan’s budget](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/dollar-store-new-deal) doesn’t really eliminate anything the federal government does. - Just as they did back in 1995, Republicans are doing a lot of talking about cutting the size of the federal government. However, they aren’t doing much talking about [reducing the *scope* of the federal government’s activities](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/budget-cuts-look-familiar). - The government’s [air traffic controllers](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/air-traffic-control-too-important-feds) have been sleeping on the job, watching movies rather than guiding planes, and misdirecting the First Lady’s plane over Washington. The solution is privatization. - [Lobbyists are already hard at work](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/lobbying-wolves-prowl) trying to undo the minuscule spending cuts recently agreed to by Republicans and Democrats. - If you could only choose one, [which federal department or agency](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/what-would-you-eliminate) would you eliminate? Let us know on [Downsizing’s Facebook page](http://www.facebook.com/pages/Downsizing-the-Federal-Government/26635669039). Follow Downsizing the Federal Government on Twitter ([@DownsizeTheFeds](http://twitter.com/DownsizeTheFeds)) and connect with us [on Facebook](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/).