Cato looks at the herculean task of downsizing government

Cato has set up a web site that explores ways to downsize the federal government, department by department. This is a worthy cause. The government is now so big that it will require thousands of sets of eyes to get a handle on the sheer size, replication, waste and stupidity it embraces.

Click on the headline of this post to go to the web site.

Here's a small sample:

The Department of Agriculture administers large farm subsidy programs and runs the food stamp and school lunch programs.

The department will spend about $142 billion in 2010, or about $1,200 for every U.S. household. It employs 96,000 workers and operates more than 230 subsidy programs.