Welcome to the effect of too much government, between Federal, State, and Local, there is so many layers of inefficiency, graft, and corruption, it has become incredibly expensive to get a lot done. Corruption isn't simply down to giving and taking of bribes but the outright placing campaign officials in places of authority and nepotism.
County level in many states works out just fine but even they are subject to harassment if not extortion by higher levels of government.
We have a government too big it fails. Worse it costs the poorest of our country an inordinate amount due to taxes, fees, and penalties.
And yet there are countries with more government and much better outcomes along many axes, e.g. Denmark. So maybe there's a difference between a big government and corrupt one?
There's definitely some correlation, but I don't think these are strictly coupled.
It would be possible to have France-like tax rates but not employ many government workers by paying private industry to handle tasks like health and education.
I'm of the belief that practices like this might be part of the reason the US has so many healthcare inefficiencies though. Corporations are solely focused on making profit and there just isn't enough competition in areas like telecom, healthcare, etc. to keep prices down.
I'm Canadian and our healthcare isn't perfect, but it's also not the kind of political talking point it is in the US for a reason.
County level in many states works out just fine but even they are subject to harassment if not extortion by higher levels of government.
We have a government too big it fails. Worse it costs the poorest of our country an inordinate amount due to taxes, fees, and penalties.