Anyone know of a list of government programs that failed and those that succeeded?

Question

Liberals or Democrats tend to believe in the potential of government to have effective programs; conservatives and Rebublicans seems to believe otherwise. So let's get closer to a resolution: Make a list of successful programs and not-so-successful ones. I'll start:

Successful: The federal highway system.

Unsuccessful: the best example I can think of is Herbert Hoover's programs to mitigate the effects of the Depression--the economy still got worse. OK, maybe a bad example, but please work with me if you know better or have further examples.

Multiculturalism???? Sorry, but was a bill passed in relation to that? Was a program established? Can you elaborate at all?

R1b1c: I'm thinking we would narrow the scope to programs that persisted over a number of presidential administrations. Programs with shorter duration than that won't have enough info to judge (probably.)

Answer 1

Government Programs that work: Social Security. (Before their funding was eviscerated by the Bush Admin--the FDA, FEMA etc.) Mental Health funded programs work as do programs that serve people with other disabilities including Vocational & Educational Services. Medicaid has also worked well especially for young children that would suffer without healthcare. Government programs are usually designed to fill in the places where the market fails to provide for a societal need.

Answer 2

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RE:
Anyone know of a list of government programs that failed and those that succeeded?
Liberals or Democrats tend to believe in the potential of government to have effective programs; conservatives and Rebublicans seems to believe otherwise. So let's get closer to a resolution: Make a list of successful programs and not-so-successful ones. I'll start:

Successful: The...

Answer 3

That would be an incredibly long and lop-sided list! Most government programs fail because they seldom are tied to any specific performance objectives or precisely-defined goals. Congress passes a law, throws a bunch of money at it, and goes on to the next hair-brained idea. If there is no accountability, there can be no measure of success or failure. -RKO- 08/18/07

Answer 4

It was Lyndon Johnson that started taking from S.S., and it went down hill from there. Everything in the New Deal went down. Why? Because government cannot and was not meant to be in charge of things like that. They have no fear of failure, like the private sector does. Why? because they don't really care and they can tax the heck out of everybody to cover their losses. It has been the private sector that has filled in for government. When the postal service went into so much trouble (and still is) Fed-X and UPS came in to save the day. All socialist/communist countries fail, and when that happens, it is the private sector that the people must turn to. Government just can't do it. I do realize that your answer is 6 years old, but there has been a lot of thing that Obama and his administration that shows that government needs to stay out of the peoples lives. They don't even live by the same laws any longer. We owe that (mainly) to Liberal/Preogressive/Democrats and Rhinos whom love bigger government and intruding into our lives.

Answer 5

Almost all government programs fail due to the fact that government isn't a business and their standards for performance are virtually nonexistent.
Instead of correcting misdirected efforts, they just throw more money at failed efforts.
The highway system was a success because the REAL motivation behind it was to break up the railroad unions that were suppressing the entire U.S. economy. It helped free enterprise and undercut the power of Socialism. It helped create more FREEDOM.

Answer 6

That would be a very tough list to put together. How would you define "success" and "failure"? One need look no further than the current U.S. operation in Iraq to see that: Democrats call it a failure, while Republicans swear it is a success. You will always find someone who says a program was a success because it did something positive, while others will call it a failure because the program didn't do everything it set out to do.

Good luck...just don't expect consensus!

*****

Phillip H: The railroads weren't controled by unions, and were in no way socialist enterprises--they were "trusts" (collusive monopolies) run by the "pillars" of capitalist entrepreneurialism. It was the automobile companies that pushed for the creation of the highway system, and Eisenhower (who wanted it for national defense).

Answer 7

Unsuccessful.... The No Child Left Behind Act. All this did was to make companies (Neil Bush owns one of them) that make the tests rich. Students can't really learn by just studying for a test. The War on Drugs, Medicare Part D, The Bankruptcy Bill, The Help America Vote Act.

Answer 8

are you a fan of Michael Vick? nice avatar.

but to answer your question.... i do believe government can and does do good things for the citizens of America. here are programs that are successful: the military, Medicare, Social Security (yes, it has been successful for a long time), the national park system, the Endangered Species Act (program), federal student aid for college students (has helped A LOT of people go to school), the GI Bill (helped a lot of people too).

unsuccessful....2001-2008: George W. Bush using the military to take everyone's attention off the fact that he can do nothing and has done nothing to make America a better (or safer) place.

Answer 9

successful -- all government programs that supply gov. funded jobs to the poor. fdr created many of these.


unsuccessful -- irs. do you know how much money they spend just sorting out the taxes? it's ridiculous

Answer 10

you would need to narrow the scope of the question to a specific set of years maybe an administration or two. Within one administration alone we could name hundreds of both.