If a nation’s government is totally destroyed you can get rid of the bureaucracy. That happened to Germany in WWII, and played a major role in enabling Ludwig Erhard’s Economic Miracle, the Wirtschaftwunder, of the late 40s and early 50s.

If we reduced the civilian Federal government by 2/3 and reduced taxes proportionately we could turn the economy inot a powerhouse. But too many influential people would have their rice bowls broken or their patronage disappear, so it won’t be done. Obama is a rent seeker, in economic parlance, has been all his life. We’ll just ge more of the rent seekers taking over under his watch.