Hi all. Did you ever wonder if things really change when a new President or Prime Minister or a new Head of State is elected? Most newcomers promise change but once they get into office they get caught up in bureaucracy and nothing gets done. I remember when I was a kid, I used to see a BBC show called Yes, Minister. Later it became Yes, Prime Minister. But in that show the lead character is a newly elected person. However, his personal assistant is a man who has been in that role for the previous minister. The new minister has a lot of ideas, but his assistant cautions him that things take a lot of time to implement. But still the new minister persists. So his assistant talks to other assistants including those for the opposition and they plan it such that the new ministers ideas get bogged down in procedure. In the US, all regulations are in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A new rule, a new tax break, everything is in the CFR. As of right now, the CFR has 200,000 pages. Do you think people like you and me have time to read any of it? Do you know if we are violating any regulation right now? I don’t think so. To put things in perspective, in the 1950’s when President Eisenhower left office, the CFR was 25,000 pages. During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, 25,000 pages were added. Similarly during the Nixon/Ford administration, another 25,000 pages were added and during the Reagan/George H.W. Bush era, 25,000 more pages were added. Over the last 16 years, another 75,000 pages were added. Similarly, during the Eisenhower era, government spending was $500 per person. Today is $4500. The only time it actually went down was during the Reagan and Clinton administration. My point is regardless of whether a democrat or republican wins the election, bureaucracy will not change. It is the same thing in India, the UK and other democracies. Basically we just have to take control of things we can and hope for the best. Just remember the serenity prayer “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference”.