Government does stuff. I have often said that there are words which can only be defined in the experience of them. I cannot tell you what a "nebbish" is, but I can point to a guy who is a "nebbish" and you'll respond with, "Yeah, I get it." It occurs to me that what government does is often only defined in its absence. Let me explain.
The first day that sequester cuts actually went into effect, I spent several hours in Ft. Lauderdale Airport because my flight was delayed. They announced that the delay was a direct result of the sequester. The sequester forced the government to cut money across the board. It was purposely set up to be a bad idea that should be avoided.
As we all know, it was not avoided. During hearings about the flight delays, the FAA administrator testified that he had previously told Congress that these cuts would lead to delays at major hubs which would then filter through the entire system. One Congressman responded by saying Lah-di-dah, of course there are cuts but you didn't tell me that MY flight was going to be delayed (I'm paraphrasing a bit here).
I'm a bit fuzzy about how unclear delays through the entire system was. The point is that this congressman that the government cut would not affect anything of significance, only to find out that either he, or constituents with money were inconvenienced by the sudden lack of government.
Many Republican legislators complained about the stoppage of White House tours, a perk that constituents obtained through their offices. Others complained about hours cut down at National Parks in their districts resulting in hotel cancellations in their districts. What part of "across the board" did you not understand?
The Right tells us that government doesn't create jobs even as they run for government jobs, and tout small business successes that either have government contracts or receive government loans. Economic statistics clearly show that the recovery has been hampered by a slowdown in government spending.
When the bridge collapsed in Washington a couple of months ago, many on the right were questioning why their tax dollars should go to fix a bridge they will never use. The bridge was a part of I-5. Do I really need to explain that the I in I-5 stands for Interstate? Let me put it this way, if the Federal government keeps our bridges and roads up to code, they don't break down as much. If they don't break down, then insurance companies don't pay claims. If they don't pay claims, they don't raise your rates.
Government inspecting the food you eat prevents hospital visits, which lowers health care costs. Government monitoring volcanoes grounded planes, saving lives (I'm looking at you Bobby Jindal). Government subsidized research has reduced the cost of renewable fuels.
On September 11, 2001, airport security for the 4 planes hijacked by the terrorists was run by the private sector. Not only that, the companies were not even American. Think about that before you say that government is the problem.