I wonder how many of these check and balance systems that were created once but have grown so big they're now more of a ball and chain than the problem they were intended to mitigate.

Environmental impact assessments, engineer stamps, etc, etc, for minor projects that wind up prescribing some petty stormwater solution which adds up to more cost than if the Taj Mahal of stormwater solutions had just been fired from the hip in the general direction of the problem. Graft reducing procurement processes that have grown over time to cost more to run on an annualized basis than the graft they were intended to prevent.

At least if we took best guesses when implementing solutions to ancillary problems and awarded contracts based on favor trading at least we'd have the solutions and the stuff to show for it even if the solutions and stuff aren't perfect.