American government is suffering a breakdown of authority. It is unable to give permits for transmission lines and housing, deal with homelessness, fix broken schools, or even fire a civil servant who doesn’t show up for work. Red tape has supplanted official responsibility. The accretion of detailed codes, procedures and regulations among numerous agencies at federal, state and local levels are like layers of sediment that have silted over a harbor. It’s hard to get anywhere because it’s basically unlawful to make sensible decisions.
