>>So we have sacrificed a more efficient system of caring for our elderly and infirm for a heartless and soulless government that is grossly inefficient and wasteful.
>
>I need some proof of that statement. :-)

Here is the [lack of] efficiency of sending local money to the federal government. First, a bureaucracy is created [if none already exists] to administrate some program [admin costs -- employees, offices, supplies, utilities, etc.]. Then local, county or State agencies, organizations or individuals apply for grants. Then funds are awarded which distribute that grant funding to those intended to receive it. In most cases, there are additional staff that manage these grants to make sure the funds are spent properly. Recipients of grants are also allowed to use grant funds to cover a proportional amount of their admin costs. That is how it works here. I know because I used to be a grant manager of multi-million dollar grants where I still work [US Environmental Protection Agency].

Now, look at the efficiency of me donating $100 to the local Salvation Army where it is spent locally to buy food and clothes that go directly to those who need it. Pardon me, but I trust my local Goodwill, Salvation Army, food bank, mission or church to know who needs help more than I trust the HHS in Washington DC or the Texas Department of Health in Austin.

How much of that $100 do you think gets to those who need it if taken through a Federal process? It is significantly less than the $100 contributed to a local organization. How many volunteers work at a government agency? An insignificant few. How many volunteers work at local organizations? A significant many.

Each year, we get a booklet of charitable organizations that we can contribute to via payroll deductions. There are hundreds of local organizations whose admin costs are less than 10% and all must be less than 20%. That means at least 80 to 90% of all funding goes to those aided by those organizations. There is no government agency whose efficiency approaches those figures.