Government Absurdity

I normally don’t talk about politics (I was a poli sci major in college, so I’ve learned to avoid the topic), but this really gets me.

The 2010 census is going to cost  $14B+.  Yes,  that was a “B”  for billion.  I know the dollar is weak, but that is absurd.

Let’s think about this. Did some quick math – $14B/ $300M residents = $46.66 (6 repeating, ofcourse) per person for the census. We pay that much to have every person counted.

Even more math: $14B/$117 (number of taxpayers in U.S.)= $119, which is the average price every taxpayer pays for the census. I could understand if this was to get us to Mars, introduce renewable energy, or even buy tanks, but to count people?!?

This makes the Big Dig look like a minor budget deficit.

I hope a lot of people lose their tenured jobs for this.  Can you imagine any private company being so inefficient?  I bet you can create a startup who can complete the census for under $100 million.  This is the worst example of inefficient government.

Source: AP via Engadget