What if the responsibility for controlling the Ebola outbreak in the United States fell to the IRS?
Would Americans be more or less worried about their safety? Would they feel confident that an efficient, competent agency is doing everything it can to protect this country's health and well-being?
The answer, of course is, "More and no."
Unfortunately, another federal bureaucracy -- the Center for Disease Control -- is responsible for stopping the spread of Ebola, and as CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports, they've already shown their incompetence in five startling ways:
1. The CDC is telling possible Ebola patients to "call a doctor."
2. The CDC director says any hospital can care for Ebola patients.
3. The CDC didn't encourage the "buddy system" for doctors and nurses.
4. CDC didn't encourage doctors to develop Ebola treatment guidelines.
5. The CDC put too much trust in protective gear.
(To see more details on each point, click here.)
Americans can expect the CDC -- like any federal bureaucracy -- to be plagued with inefficiency, incompetence, and a tendency to put political considerations ahead of their job. Clearly, they've shown this to be the case: if the CDC isn't responsible for developing treatment guidelines, it's difficult to imagine what they are responsible for.
Obviously, a potential Ebola epidemic should be handled by some type of centralized group of experts. But Americans need to realize the problems that plague bureaucracies like the IRS also plague bureaucracies that don't receive as much negative press.
America can't fix its problems with more centralized government control. As Daniel Henninger suggests, "the answer to this plague of bureaucratic damage runs... toward scaled-down, distributed public responsibilities. Less power but better, safer performance."
A Convention of States can encourage Americans to curb their dependence on incompetent federal agencies. Click here to learn more.
