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Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

First,

To say that govt. assistance is never a good thing (as you seem to be saying) or that govt. is always an obstacle is just wrong. My point is that, in this case, the govt helped facilitate the volunteer efforts of many. Yes. Regulation exists, so do roads, and a comfort that our food is safe. You think any of that happens without govt. activity?

Generally, I agree that there is waste in govt. Duh. You want "the trains to run on time"? Go talk to the Nazis or some other form of totalitarian govt. In a democratic society, one of the costs for "fairness" is the lack of efficiency. It is a constant trade off.

Here, the project would not have happened but for the combined efforts of govt., officials (this started as a school project remember?), private companies, and the involvment of committed individuals. Is it so hard to acknowledge that govt. can actually serve a good purpose and beneficial purpose?

Well if your def. of a good purpose is waisting 30% of the money to have people push paper work then I guess the federal goverment is great. Our club tried to get a federal grant once (figured why not they are going to give the money to someone) and after a stack of forms we just said F^%$ it. Not worth the effort. Why do you feel the feds need all this praise to give away money that is not even theirs?