· 76 comments · Save ·
News & Current Events Mar 27, 2026 at 4:59 PM

America's deeply unserious federal government is becoming a real problem

Posted by jediporcupine


America's deeply unserious federal government is becoming a real problem
Reason.com
America's deeply unserious federal government is becoming a real problem
From long TSA lines to air traffic control issues to the chaotic war in Iran, it's all the result of a government that won't take its powers or responsibilities seriously.

🚩 Report this post

76 Comments

Sign in to comment — or just click the box below.
🔒 Your email is never shown publicly.
DoubtSubstantial5440 Mar 27, 2026 +246
Gee if only there was a way to predict electing a pedo rapist to the highest office in the land for a second was a bad f****** idea
246
Particle_Rain1199 Mar 27, 2026 +124
From r/Jokes: A pedophile, a conman, and a convicted felon walk into a bar. The bartender says, "I see you're drinking alone tonight, Mr. President."
124
StandSeparate1743 Mar 27, 2026 +21
Solid setup. Since (somehow) he's sober, you should swap the punchline to "I thought you didn't drink?"
21
dpdxguy Mar 27, 2026 +8
Electing Trump is a *symptom* of America's unwillingness to elect a federal government that takes its responsibilities seriously, not a cause.
8
sugarlessdeathbear Mar 27, 2026 +12
The nation does stuff like that and I'm like "well, does *everyone* really deserve a vote?"
12
bunch_of_hocus_pocus Mar 27, 2026 +18
Yes. But also everyone deserves a good education and access to resources that provide stable living. soooo uhhh
18
A_Rogue_GAI Mar 27, 2026 +12
Trump is the tip of the boil but he's a symptom of the problems with our government, not the cause. There are *deep* rooted problems with American society and government, and the policy of both parties has largely been to ignore them. Because you can't challenge the problem of massive wealth inequality without upsetting the donor class.
12
IrrelevantLeprechaun Mar 27, 2026 +5
There's a deep rooted problem with 75 million Americans that voted for him, yes.
5
Adultery Mar 27, 2026 +4
Don’t forget the circus he brought with him that includes his criminal enterprise, the Tech Dorks, and Christian Nationalists.
4
InnerDate805 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Reminder that Reason felt compelled to publish how each member of their staff voted in the most important election in American history. They are not receipts you would want attached to an article like this, which could have realistically been written at any time in the last ten years. But you know, it was important to have their cake and eat it, too.
1
CrackingToastGromet Mar 28, 2026 +1
Managing to bankrupt four casinos also hits pretty hard, especially when he claims to be an amazing businessman. But Mother Trump knew her boy best…she said if he ever got into politics he’d be a disaster.
1
CrimsonHeretic Mar 28, 2026 +1
Pedo rapist incestuous* felon* insurrectionist*
1
Motor_Educator_2706 Mar 27, 2026 +83
America's deeply stupid electorate is becoming a real problem.
83
Suitable_Froyo4930 Mar 27, 2026 +25
This. The government is a reflection of the people who voted them in.
25
Motor_Educator_2706 Mar 27, 2026 +10
"A republic, if you can keep it" Benjamin Franklin 1787 "In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve." - Count Joseph de Maistre 1811
10
IrrelevantLeprechaun Mar 27, 2026 +7
Yup. There are 75 million voters who not only looked at him in 2016 and said "yes I want that," but they continued to want that even after it proved disastrous, and wanted it so much that they got it back for a second round. Meanwhile another 75 million were shouting and warning them the entire time, and explicitly voted against it all three times it was on the ballot.
7
jemappellejimbo Mar 27, 2026 +9
The country is too big. In reality should be 4-5 separate countries. There is no common governance between such differences in lifestyle education and thought processes
9
SaddamMustaine Mar 28, 2026 +2
100% correct.
2
Lurking_nerd Mar 27, 2026
F****** this. As appealing as the idea is of a national divorce, there would be a lot of instability, death, and chaos with 4-5 American “countries” sharing a continent. It’s quite the thought experiment.
0
Motor_Educator_2706 Mar 28, 2026
How about a national trial separation?
0
Motor_Educator_2706 Mar 27, 2026 +1
https://i.imgur.com/YiVLY0i.jpg
1
theclansman22 Mar 27, 2026 +37
This is what happens when you elect morons. 4 times in the 21st century the American electorate has elected a completely incompetent regime, and all 4 times have been disastrous for the country. They have brought America 2 (possibly 3 soon) economic meltdowns, 3 needless, trillion dollar wars in the middle east and about what, $15 trillion in debt caused by decreasing taxes and increasing spending? That number is only going up too! Competence is underrated by the American electorate.
37
schmemel0rd Mar 27, 2026 -24
I don’t think they are morons, I think they are incredibly intelligent, more so than the dems for sure. They just have a different vision for the future of America than you do. And I’m pretty sure most of this is part of a very well thought out plan a few decades in the making. The fact that most of this doesn’t go away with the trump administration is something Americans need to come to terms with.
-24
Eva_Griffin_Beak Mar 27, 2026 +7
I don't think it is necessarily intelligence. I think it is being unscrupulous.
7
schmemel0rd Mar 27, 2026 -3
If you legitimately don’t think that the people who wrote project 2025 aren’t smart I don’t know what to even tell you. They beat the dems so bad the dems are currently waiting to see if the next election will even happen. Imagine losing so badly that you need to wait to see if the people who beat you will allow you vote next time.
-3
Eva_Griffin_Beak Mar 27, 2026 +6
Where did I say that? The most defining feature is unscrupulous. Intelligence is second rank. You need to be unscrupulous to come up with and pursue something like project 2025. Someone with value and ethics would not support project 2025. You could probably also say ruthless ... Edit: And I personally don't think it is intelligent to destroy a country and its foundation. But I guess there are different forms of intelligence. Or maybe different visions of what makes a great country. For example, destroying the ability of a country to attract great minds and researchers is not very intelligent, in my opinion. Removing regulations (environmental, food, and health) that will have long-lasting consequences for its inhabitants and their children is not intelligent in my book.
6
Coda17 Mar 27, 2026 +3
Donald Trump can barely form a cohesive sentence
3
schmemel0rd Mar 27, 2026 -2
Donald trump is the mascot, the people who wrote project 2025 are the players. They do such a good job distracting you with him though, it’s impressive.
-2
Advanced-Library-342 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Lmao okay bot
1
Alive_kiwi_7001 Mar 27, 2026 +50
Reason discovers the government it wished for isn't the government it wished for.
50
DaraParsavand Mar 27, 2026 +10
Reason magazine doesn't endorse and of the staff mentioned in the article nobody was committed to Trump (though 2 were considering) and 3 were committed to Harris (with most voting for Chase Oliver since after all - it's a Libertarian mag). https://reason.com/2024/10/17/how-are-reason-staffers-voting-in-2024/
10
Missing_Username Mar 27, 2026 +3
I believe their claims to that effect about as much as I believe each of the Heritage Foundation SCOTUS rep that said *Roe* was settled case law in their appointment hearings. I remember when suddenly no one had ever supported Dubya, too
3
DaraParsavand Mar 27, 2026 +1
the article was written before the election so your sentence about bush doesn't apply here
1
ScandiSom Mar 27, 2026 +4
Actually an executive branch with too much power is the problem.
4
Frustratedtx Mar 27, 2026 +25
All 3 branches being captured is the problem. Congress could impeach him or actually pass bill stopping him from doing things, but Republicans have decided to treat Trump as a king and they own both houses. The Supreme Court could stop many things, but they're also captured as the Heritage Foundation has spent my entire life manipulating the system to get corrupt and unqualified judges on the highest court in the country. The Republican party spent 45 years actively working to destroy the system of checks and balances and now they have.
25
-Knockabout Mar 27, 2026 +8
Agreed. It is very important to keep in mind that since the 70s and especially since Reagan they have been slowly working their way towards a fun Republican coup at the behest of conservative think takes. And even prior to all that, our government was just not structured with the idea of a possible conspiracy of bad actors taking control of every area of government. It was only ever meant to deal with bad actors individually, not an entire party of them. But despite all that preparation, and the very real tragedies and problems that have occurred...it is honestly not going amazingly well for them. Which I do take some comfort in.
8
sumoraiden Mar 27, 2026
Nah the problem is the people elected Trump and the republicans to the majority. You can complain about congress not doing their job but they ran on being subservient to him and were elected on that platform
0
twirlingmypubes Mar 27, 2026 +15
>deeply unserious federal government Cool way to say clowns in a fun house
15
Count_Backwards Mar 28, 2026 +1
Yeah, it's not unserious. It's deeply serious about being a bunch of fascist kakistocrats protecting pedophiles, pillaging the public treasury, and committing treason and war crimes. Calling it unserious trivializes what's happening.
1
HellaTroi Mar 27, 2026 +7
*"Meanwhile, where is Speaker of the House Mike Johnson"* The Chair of the Republicans in the House announced that the Senate passed version of the bill was "Garbage", and the House would not vote on it.
7
Hauntinghotti Mar 27, 2026 +5
It’s hard to take a leader seriously when they treat the federal budget like a group chat and the national economy like a social media stunt.
5
AdHopeful3801 Mar 27, 2026 +3
>From long TSA lines to air traffic control issues to the chaotic war in Iran, it's all the result of a government that won't take its powers or responsibilities seriously. "Becoming"? First, no, America's deeply unserious government has been a full blown problem since Elon and his f****** chainsaw came along and fucked up hundreds of thousands of lives. Anyone who has only noticed a problem because they're inconvenienced at the airport this week is either ignorant, unserious themselves, or just emerged from a coma. Second, no. America's deeply unserious government is a problem **only** because it does not take its **responsibilities** seriously. It takes its power - especially its power to kill, whether via street level executions of protesters or maltrating detainees to death in ICE gulags - quite seriously indeed.
3
judgejuddhirsch Mar 27, 2026 +1
Eh, republicans spent billions persecuting the Clinton b******. That was pretty unserious stuff just to set the stage for today.
1
NoConflict3231 Mar 27, 2026 +5
We also have a deeply unserious population
5
Banes_Addiction Mar 27, 2026 +9
Thanks, the Reason Foundation. You definitely wouldn't f*** up the government worse.
9
128-NotePolyVA Mar 27, 2026 +3
That’s an interesting notion, however not necessarily an accurate assessment. There are plenty of representatives that take their job seriously. The question is what do they believe their job is? Some think their job is to be reelected as often as they can. Others think their job is to latch on to Trump and back his every move. And still others think its to block anything Trump or the majority party put forward. Wake us up when the clown show decides to represent the interests of their constituents and uphold the constitution and our laws.
3
IrrelevantLeprechaun Mar 27, 2026 +3
Imagine looking at the nazi regime of WW2 and saying they were just "deeply unserious." Like what kind of kid gloves words are these? They're fascists with the specific intention of hurting as many people as possible to enrich themselves. That's magnitudes worse than "deeply unserious."
3
AndreLeGeant88 Mar 27, 2026 +5
It starts and ends with gerrymandering and FPTP. Each member of Congress represents 700,000 people or so. But the reality is they win their seat by winning crowded primaries where success tends to come to the most extreme person who can pull in 25,000 votes. So on the right we elect in serious trolls backed by the fringe of the fringe. (On the left, donors make sure this doesn't happen.)
5
rasa2013 Mar 27, 2026 +2
Huh, I was surprised to see this article only both-sidesed a moderate amount instead of entirely. Like I've said before, Republicans are arsonists in the government. It should surprise nobody that they are completely unserious when governing. Their only aims are corruption and trampling people's rights to accumulate power to enable more corruption and maybe enforce their backwards moral and social views.
2
jemappellejimbo Mar 27, 2026 +2
It’s finally becoming a problem when yt people were inconvenienced. It wasn’t a problem when other races were getting hurt, jailed, killed
2
CodyCrochetZ Mar 28, 2026 +2
Bro, it’s been a real problem for 10 f****** years. Much longer than that, actually.
2
Correct-Branch9000 Mar 28, 2026 +2
What the f*** is this article - did anyone actually read it? It's literally calling for privatization of air traffic control, and the privatization of all kinds of other things that should be regulated such as a TSA type security force. This article is f****** nuts, the headline is deliberately misleading.
2
AcanthisittaNo6653 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Trump's polarizing personality has moved the J6 riots from the Capitol grounds into the chambers themselves. Just like last time, trump sits in the his dining room at the white house and watches on CNN.
1
HellaTroi Mar 27, 2026 +1
He's still watching Fox News.
1
OkPotato7306 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Becoming?? 🙄
1
TheGreatOldOwl Mar 27, 2026 +1
Becoming?
1
djm2346 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Becoming? We are about to see oil and gas shortages the world has never seen and they could open the straight tomorrow and that's not changing. We are about 2 to 3 weeks from having a global economic catastrophe that we have never experienced and all because the US government is not functioning correctly.
1
Conscious_until_1565 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Becoming?
1
-OptimisticNihilism- Mar 27, 2026 +1
But at least his signature will be on our bills now.
1
kittenTakeover Mar 27, 2026 +1
He's just like me! /s
1
jico448 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Becoming?!? When was this published?
1
rounder55 Mar 27, 2026 +1
The consequences are pretty f****** serious
1
BernardMatthewsNorf Mar 27, 2026 +1
Seems like it's just a more obvious version of the old Republican plan of *break the government on purpose,* say it doesn't work, and that only the private sector can fix this mess. 
1
Plzlaw4me Mar 27, 2026 +1
The problem is a huge portion of the country views politics as sports. They vote for democrats or republicans everytime because that’s who they’ve always voted for. As a result, we have a federal government that is focused exclusively on “winning” partisan fights instead of helping the American people. And no, I’m not going to both sides this, republicans care less about governance once in office… but the core issue is that politicians are being rewarded for partisan victories instead of effective governance.
1
raouldukesaccomplice Mar 27, 2026 +1
Says the magazine that has spent decades insisting we don’t need a serious federal government.
1
KrazyBby93 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Becoming???
1
YLCZ Mar 27, 2026 +1
Well this is one way to get us to stop using paper money
1
Scared-Box8941 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Edit: America’s deeply corrupt federal government is becoming an obvious problem
1
KiwDaWabbit2 Mar 28, 2026 +1
“Becoming”
1
CapableCod1339 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Becoming?
1
Raspberries-Are-Evil Mar 28, 2026 +1
“Unserious people that will have serious consequences.” Remember her?
1
TheOhrenberger Mar 28, 2026 +1
Republicans are the problem.
1
CPUsCantDoNothing Mar 28, 2026 +1
Becoming? Millions are dead
1
Additional_Cash_3357 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Funny that a libertarian periodical disses the most libertarian presidency since Andrew Jackson
1
FosterFl1910 Mar 27, 2026
At least this article is on my side about privatizing airport security. Let the airlines/airports handle it. Our system of government incentivizes stalemates.
0
No-Stress3699 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Our books are on Amazon just search Climate Crisis Changed. We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you! As a thank you for your generous support, we invite you to download and read Chapter 13 of our latest book free at cctruth.org! globalchange.gov was shutdown because of our 35 PhD review of the IPCC reports which are deliberate science fiction. It’s a great resource, and we encourage you to share it with your like-minded friends who are also passionate about making a difference in the fight against climate change. Moreover, remember that any donations you make are tax deductible, so you can feel good about giving! NetzeroCO2e equals only 8.6 billion tons of photosynthesis left in the world. Plant trees is the only way to lower CO2. CO2 is plant food and only a 9% effect greenhouse gas. Climate Change is about Fear mongering and removal of people from the earth and has been completely debunked. No to gas tax increase. [Cctruth.org](http://Cctruth.org) Solar Panels and Windmills are not the solution [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYHX-Ib3Q5Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYHX-Ib3Q5Q) Sustainability is an untruthful statement of the UN. Dave White also debunked the false idea that rolling coal (black smoke from diesel trucks) causes any health issue. The fake studies were done in China with air 50X more polluted than anywhere in the USA [https://cctruth.org/Junk\_science\_about\_fine\_particles\_and\_health.pdf](https://cctruth.org/Junk_science_about_fine_particles_and_health.pdf) EPA cant regulate Greenhouse gases because they are not toxic. [https://thelawisyourattorney.com/epa-cant-regulate-greenhouse-gases/](https://thelawisyourattorney.com/epa-cant-regulate-greenhouse-gases/) [https://thelawisyourattorney.com/epa-cant-regulate-greenhouse-gases/](https://thelawisyourattorney.com/epa-cant-regulate-greenhouse-gases/) https://thelawisyourattorney.com/epa-cant-regulate-greenhouse-gases/ cctruth.org greenhouse gas page measured data.
1
← Back to Board