Usually when the feds "combat" something, their efforts are ineffective.

The Newton, Massachusetts Police Department will be receiving a $10,000 grant to combat teen drinking.

Leaving aside for a moment the absence of authority for the federal government to collect revenues and then redistribute them to the states for health, welfare, and criminal issues which are outside the purpose of the national government, it is interesting to note the use of the word "combat" in the article.

Generally when the federal government is described (or self-describes itself, as virtually every federal institution has a robust propaganda arm these days) as "combatting" something, there is a good chance this means spending a lot of money without achieving much. Often times the effort is counterproductive.

Trafficking in persons is my favorite issue in this arena, because it is such a wonderful example of an issue the federal government has no business involving itself in, yet through a peculiar fusion of the feminist left and religious right, does to almost no end.

The feds are always "combatting" trafficking in persons.

The beauty of this travesty is magnified by the way the USG has not just inserted itself in the issue, but defined and redefined the problem so as to make it fit the definition of what the special interests behind it believe is really happening (or want us to believe- their jobs are on the line). Fifteen years ago trafficking in persons meant essentially white slavery- sexual kidnapping. When the beneficiaries of "combatting" this phenomenon realized there was not much of an actual problem in this arena- they broadened their definition to include illegal migration- which brought another special interest group onboard- anti-immigration voters. In their attempt to stop this societal ill the feds have sought to regulate prostitution (certainly not a federal issue), pornography (also not a federal issue), and immigration (which certainly is a federal issue). Always the effort is characterized as "combatting."

All that the counter trafficking in persons work has accomplished though is the creating of a massive "combatting" trafficking in persons industry, which grows unchecked because anyone who questions it is an apologist for sexual abuse and exploitation of migrants.

Essentially the same argument can be made for federal attempts to "combat" drug use, obesity, poverty, bullying, and perhaps terrorism.

It never works. It costs a lot. And it is not there area.

$10,000 wasted in Massachusetts, some would say, is not going to bankrupt the USG.

An objective observer though, would note that the feds already are broke, and all this will do is exacerbate the problem.