Lyn Nofziger Quotes

There's a smokestack on the back of every government program.

It's no great secret, number one, in my view, and I think the view of most Americans, that Congress itself is pretty dysfunctional. We are not addressing the real needs of the American people. And second of all, philosophically, there is a huge division between the House and the Senate.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

I don't think it's the function of Congress to function well. It should drag its heels on the way to decision.

Most Americans recognize that whatever the government program is, no matter how essential it is, it's waste.

You can see how dysfunctional this Congress is.

There is a problem in Washington, and the problem is bigger than a continuing resolution. It is bigger than Obamacare. It is even bigger than the budget. The most fundamental problem and the frustration is that the men and women in Washington aren't listening.

Among the weeds choking out growth and good government are the hundreds of boards, commissions, and advisory committees that have sprouted over the years. They devour time, money, and energy far beyond any real contribution they make.

Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless.

Almost everything the government runs becomes mediocre in time ... bureaucracy leads to mediocrity.

Congress doesn’t do comprehensive well.

It’s easier for Congress to beat civil servants about the ears than address the programs that are not working well.

Theoretically, planning may be good. But nobody has ever figured out the cause of government stupidity—and until they do (and find the cure), all ideal plans will fall into quicksand.

The more the government plans fail, the more the planners plan.

Congress has lost its capacity to manage itself.

The government generally is just too top-heavy.

When government programs fail, it is often because public officials are clueless about how human beings think and act.

Far too many government spending programs have gone years, even decades, without being reauthorized, leaving the American people less able to effectively review, rethink, and possibly eliminate government programs.

One of the reasons Americans hold Washington in such low regard is the perception that nothing ever gets done. Whatever the issue - no matter how urgent - they always seem to be 'working on it.'

Technology has changed almost everything. One institution remains stubbornly anchored in the past. It's where I work - the United States Congress, a 19th Century institution using 20th Century technology to respond to 21st Century problems.

Government proposes, bureaucracy disposes. And the bureaucracy must dispose of government proposals by dumping them on us.

Whether you're a veteran or a millennial, it's hard to argue that big government has solved your problems efficiently, if at all.

The stuff that I propose are things that I'm ready to govern with. They're not tools to get elected. They are programs and plans to do when you get elected.

Nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program.

As with most things governmental, failure does not mean having to try something else. It means spending more money.