"Pick at random any three letters from the alphabet, put them in any order, and you will have an acronym designating a federal agency we can do without." This quip was true when Milton Friedman said it many decades ago, and it's gotten only more true over the many years that George Will has been quoting it in his columns and speeches.
The Constitution laid out a clear vision for the role of the federal government, one limited in both scope and power. Yet the government has drifted far from this blueprint. Departments and agencies now exist that would be unrecognizable to the Founders. Despite trillions in taxpayer dollars and decades—or even centuries—of meddling, these agencies have hampered economic growth, violated human rights, and eroded civil liberties. They have somehow managed to make air travel more frustrating, education more expensive, and drug enforcement more violent.
