Can you name any capital projects in the last 30 years where the US government did a great job of a) controlling costs, b) meeting the stated design goal, c) on time?
I have a family member who was an engineer in the Federal Highway Administration for many years. The amount of waste and excess cost on these projects is really hard to exagerate.
Comparative costs to other OECD countries for similar infrastructure - there really isn't one, as the US is way out of line in terms of cost and quality.
My family member communicated with counterparts in other countries, impressed with what they were doing. When asked what the research was that they based their projects on, they all said it was the US funded research (which the US doesn't take advantage of).
Maybe you should stop electing people whose campaign talk is that US agencies are a big mess?
I mean, these people basically gain popularity when government is shown to be inefficient, but at the same time, they're the ones tasked with running the government.
