And this one just in from my beloved Aunt Brenda.

How Government Works

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.
Congress said, “Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person
at $18,000.00 a year for the job.
Then Congress said, “How does the watchman do his job
without instruction?”
So they created a planning department and hired two people,
one person to write the instructions for $22,000.00, and one
person to do time studies for an additional $22,000.00 per year.
Then Congress said, “How will we know the night watchman is
doing the tasks correctly?”
So they created a Quality Control department and hired two
people. One to do the studies for $31,000.00 and one to
write the reports for an additional $31,000.00 per year.
Then Congress said, “How are these people going to get paid?”
So they created the following positions, a time keeper for
$35,000.00 annual salary, and a payroll officer for an
additional $35,000.00, then hired two people.
Then Congress said, “Who will be accountable for all of
these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three
people, an Administrative Officer at $155,000.00 per year,
Assistant Administrative Officer $125,000.00, and a Legal
Secretary for an additional $100,000.00 per year.
Then Congress said, “We have had this operating for one year
with a budget cost of $574,000.00 and we are $18,000 over
budget. We must cutback overall cost.”
So they laid off the night watchman!