[weberc2]

You're right that people only notice the things that don't work well, but I think it's a lot more than going to the DMV and taxes. Road construction that cones-off 2 lanes out of 3 for 40 miles and 6 months while there's about a week of actual construction. Tollway systems that forbid you from knowing what toll you missed or how much you owe until after the "late payment" period. Nepotism and other kinds of government corruption. Extortionist property assessment practices. The broken/unusable/inaccurate state of most government websites. Insane turnaround times for construction permits. Pointless building restrictions. High fees for almost every interaction. Extortionist traffic violation practices. Terrible appeals processes. Abusive, rude bureaucrats. Broken or delapidated infrastructure. These are experiences I've had or observed in the last few years.

I don't have these experiences when I deal with the private sector, and those dealings are also quite a lot cheaper than with the public sector.

This isn't to say that privatization is the answer or the only answer; I've had really good experiences with the governments of other countries and even in the US, value varies across agencies.

[afuchs]

> ... I don't have these experiences when I deal with the private sector, and those dealings are also quite a lot cheaper than with the public sector. ...

You are aware that much of what you just described, road construction, government websites, and many forms of traffic enforcement, is handled by private sector contractors?

[weberc2]

Who do you suppose hired those contractors? Why does the government have worse luck than the private sector when it comes to hiring competent contractors? Why is there a meme among contractors about how easy it is to overcharge the public sector? I voted for Obama, but his administration owns the disasterous rollout of healthcare.gov.