I don't mean all state employees are trough swillers, Aunty M. And as you say many state jobs want you to indulge in pocket book self-abuse. However, there are many appointed positions created by the political process that are often just for political debt adjustment. And every bureaucrat just has to have an administrative assistant to up his self-esteem.
Although there are others, one of the glaring examples of incompetence in the ranks of the State Fish and Game people is the pictures of the starving elk that appeared in last Sunday's local newspaper. The game management people that let that happen ought to be fired. There are way too many elk for the food supply, and rather than have some hunters pay for tags and kill them, they let them starve. I have an aversion to the word 'harvest' in this case.
I know there are worse cases of state employee incompetence but that one grabs me.
I'm not sure I know how to determine the 'need' vs 'deserve' foundation of allocating welfare to private corporations.
I know that Halliburton is the favorite kicking stone of the 'OH my God, whatta mess' bunch. But I'm not aware of any other private entity that could compete with them. ???? I suspect their biggest sin is the fact that Cheney was once a player there.