Because it’s the law. Congress passes laws and the bureaucrats follow what the law says. There is nothing that a government official does that is not a result of some law. The real question is, why were these laws passed in the first place? The answer is that it is usually a result of some politician, or a special interest group who works with a politician, who identifies a problem in the country and believes that the best is by passing a law. The law usually includes some financial help or services for helping ensure that the problem is fixed. These kinds of laws may be a problem for some taxpayers but the bigger problem is that these laws can stay around for many years after the problem is solved.

Our job is letting taxpayers know about these programs, whether they are fair or not. We all pay for them whether we use them or not.