The Failure Factory: How Unelected Bureaucrats, Liberal Democrats, and Big Government Republicans Are Undermining America's Security and Leading Us to War (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Bill Gertz

“Gertz is legendary among national security reporters. . . . He is the envy of his competitors.”
—Washington Monthly

“Bill Gertz remains a national asset. And as he shines his light in unwelcome places, he remains as well an agenda setter.”
—Weekly Standard

“The hottest reporter in town . . . [Gertz] breaks dozens of stories every year.”
—Washington Post


Praise for Gertz’s latest New York Times Bestseller, Enemies

“This book is chilling. . . . I’m afraid of the impact it’s going to have, because it’s so shocking.”
—Rush Limbaugh

“A new blockbuster book.”
—The Drudge Report

“Bill Gertz is sui generis among Washington reporters. . . . Even someone who is reflexively friendly towards intelligence and law enforcement agencies must feel appalled at Mr. Gertz’s account of sweeping incompetence.”
—Washington Times


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review

Praise for Bill Gertz

“Gertz is legendary among national security reporters. . . . He is the envy of his competitors.”
—Washington Monthly

“Bill Gertz remains a national asset. And as he shines his light in unwelcome places, he remains as well an agenda setter.”
—Weekly Standard

“The hottest reporter in town . . . [Gertz] breaks dozens of stories every year.”
—Washington Post


Praise for Gertz’s latest New York Times Bestseller, Enemies

“This book is chilling. . . . I’m afraid of the impact it’s going to have, because it’s so shocking.”
—Rush Limbaugh

“A new blockbuster book.”
—The Drudge Report

“Bill Gertz is sui generis among Washington reporters. . . . Even someone who is reflexively friendly towards intelligence and law enforcement agencies must feel appalled at Mr. Gertz’s account of sweeping incompetence.”
—Washington Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Crown Forum; 1 edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030733807X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307338075
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,125 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, yet highly informative, November 4, 2008

By	Thomas Utley (South Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book makes me sick to my stomach and extremely fearful for our national security. Slimeballs from each party have infiltrated our security and military administration and are working to defeat our country from the inside. It's a hard subject to stomach but more people need to know about what's going on.

20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bureacracy versus Democracy, November 16, 2008

By	D. W. MacKenzie (New London CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am not an expert on the minute details of foreign policy or national security, so I will take Gert'z word on the events and facts in is book. How we intepret these facts is a different matter. What is interesting here is his complaits about how unelected bureaucrats have subverted US foreign policy. It should not come as too much of a surprise that unelected bureaucrats shape policy to their own ends. High officials do face serious obstacles to achieving their aims through large public bureaucracies, given the size and complexity of these organizations (not to mention the absence of proper accounting). Bureaucrats can exercise considerable discretion, and in so doing undermine official policy. So the idea that state department bureaucrats turned on Bush because of the Iraq war is quite understandable. Gertz is probably right about that.

Gertz often comlains about liberal-minded bureaucrats, but there is a more general problem with bureaucrats of any mindset. The lesson we should learn from this book is that the Federal bureaucracies are too large to be very responsive to voters. The President and Congress cannot keep track of the daily functioning of government, so low level bureaucrats often exercise a surprising amount of discretion. Consequently, elected officials wield less influence that most people think: which means that voting matters less that many people imagine. Of course, voters are not powerless. But most of the voting public has accepted large and uncontrollable bureaucracies. Americans need to wake up to the fact that we cannot have both a free society and a bureaucratically regulated society.

That being said, I would say that the author's arguments need to be tempered with some economics. China is not the economic powerhouse that it is often made out to be. China inflates its GDP stats, and has long term problems with an ageing population. Yes there are some panda huggers, and Gertz notes, just as there were those who hugged the Russian bear during the Cold War. But the US won the Cold War against the USSR through strong economic development. Why? Because out economy benefited from greater economic freedom. Here is where we really need to watch out for big government conservatives. Our long term security requires prosperity, and that means bringing Federal spending under control, first and foremost. We have serious problems with domestic discretionary spending and entitlements. If Mr Gertz wants to make the case for peace through strength, then he should push harder for a return fiscal sanity. Strength costs alot of money, and there is a strong case for peace through prosperity anyway.

The fact of the matter is that the Republican Congress and President Bush spent us into unprecedented debt. What can and should blame GW Bush for the recent explosion of Federal Spending. He could have vetoed some spending and proposed smaller budgets, but he chose to feed Federal bureaucracies more of our income. What we need is a return to the fiscal policy enacted by the 1994 Gingrich-Kasich Congress. That will help secure our long term economic interests, while at the same time starving the Federal bureaucracies. A smaller more manageable Federal bureaucracy might also be less prone to causing the problems discussed in this book. There you have it, two birds with one stone.

49 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag, October 27, 2008

By	Thomas M. Magee - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is probably the first of many to come. The book repeats the Hillary claim in reverse. That claim is that a secret conspiracy is the reason for inefficiencies or incompetence. However in the case of this book the finger points the other way. The book goes to great extent showing how Bush's failures weren't his fault, it was the great liberal conspiracy hiding in the civil service did him in. No attention is given to the bad decisions that have come out of the White House. However the author does mention names. He should get credit for backing up his accusations. However he goes overboard. His words are very laced with partisan rhetoric. I am sure there will be other books coming out from Administration folks saying much the same thing Gertz is saying, it is the other guy's fault we shot ourselves in the leg.

The book isn't a total failure. The book is like a collection of his famous columns in the Washington Times. He does draw attention to a few issues that need that attention. They seem to have slipped through the cracks in the media attention. Gertz broke the stories in the 90s about the Chinese influence in the country. He continues that chant in the book. He has a story all should read in the book. Gertz tells the story about Air Force General Butler of Strategic Command who went on a one man war to disarm the US military of nuclear weapons from the inside. More should be told of that disaster. Gertz also shows in very clear detail about how our political correctness is handcuffing the nation and sticking a bag over their head. It really does blind us to what the true harm is out there.

Overall it is a good easy read but lacks real meat about some of the underlying structural problems in our country.