As Much Money Quotes
Professor Mueller argues that the threat of terrorism is inflated by local authorities in order to get Federal Anti-Terrorism funds. This led to rural Montana getting the same federal anti-terrorism funds per capita as Washington DC or New York City despite the great difference in threat. The 9-11 Investigating Committee made this observation as well and recommended changes in the funding formulas.
This is typical of almost all government and semi government agencies. Does a government agency buy for as low a price as possible or give all a fair chance to compete, do police stop crime at the cost of impinging on civil rights, in the aftermath of the 2008 meltdown, does the government seek justice and punish the banks who caused the problem or build up the financial system so that investors and capitalists will have confidence and bring the system back to normal. Government, churches, charities and other non profit organizations all have this conflict between two or more duties and desirable objectives. This is one of the reasons that many of the great corporate leaders have failed in working for the government—they have difficulty coping with ambiguity and conflict of objectives. A company can ruin a community by moving a factory or office to a less expensive location, but generally the negative consequences are not major factors. For a government agency to ruin a community to save a little money is a much different matter.
