If you truly believe that the government that governs least governs best, you ought to be in hog heaven right about now. After six long years of a Republican dominated U.S. Senate and House and a Republican president this notion has been put to a test. For evidence of how the anti-government forces are faring look no further than the June 27th edition of The New York Times. In front page coverage NY Times reporter Eric Lipton reports on the estimated $2 billion fraud and waste perpetuated by the federal government under the guise of Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery. The cluelessness of this administration and their minions was summed up quite well by Donna M. Daniels, acting deputy director of recovery at FEMA. Daniels told a House Panel this month, "We did in fact put into place never-before-used and untested processes. Clearly, because they were untested, they were more subject to error and fraud." No, duh. Just ask the victims of Hurricane Katrina who are still living in mobile homes or what's left of their ruined homes how they feel about being used as guinea pigs in a failed disaster relief experiment. The examples of fraud are shocking and numerous. The fraud was so basic it's no wonder that every con man and crook in the nation rushed to get in on the action. FEMA officials paid claims to addresses that didn't exist, to victims using phony names and Social Security numbers and made rental assistance payments to people staying for free at hotels paid for by FEMA. More than 1,100 prison inmates cashed in, collecting more than $10 million in rental and disaster-relief assistance. Lipton reports that "the estimated $2 billion ion fraud and waste represents nearly 11% of the $19 billion spent by FEMA on Hurricane Katrina and Rita & or about 6% of total money that has been obligated." If you still want to cling to the belief that this administration is competent you might want to say that there was graft and corruption at FEMA during the Clinton administration, but I would match former FEMA Director James Lee Witt's tenure and reputation against Michael "Brownie" Brown's and his successors any day of the week. If you need further proof of the Bush administrations utter and complete lack of leadership at the federal level, check out the facts detailed in yet another story on the front page of the same edition of the NY Times. Reporter Lizette Alverez details the ordeal of several military widows who face months and in some cases years of paper work, delays and confusion when they tried to collect their loved one's death benefits. The surviving families stories are heart wrenching tales of legal loopholes and red tape that punishes grieving families. If you need further proof of the so-called party of fiscal conservatives to reign in spending and waste check out the average $1 billion per weapons system cost over runs taking place at the Pentagon. The NY Times reports that The General Accounting Office, estimated that cost overruns on 23 weapon systems it studied in April came to $23 billion. In addition, there were delays of at least a year in delivering these weapons, with some programs running as much as four years late, like the Army's $130 billion. Future Combat Systems to provide soldiers new computerized ground equipment." The human cost of all of this fraud, mismanagement, incompetence and unresponsiveness is incalculable. For all intents and purposes it would appear that the Republicans have succeeded in crippling our government with no thought or consideration to the effects of their actions. In their endless drive to reduce the size of government to accomplish what Grover Norquist famously called "small enough to drown in the bathtub" they've damaged the safety net that protects the most vulnerable and most deserving among us.