Day in and day out, government grows, but problems remain.

CAL: I can't count the number of deadlines President Obama has changed or new rules he has written trying to get the Affordable Care Act to live up to its name, the latest being the decision not to enforce the enrollment deadline. People are tired of dysfunctional government, and it doesn't seem to matter which party controls it. Obamacare is new, but even programs that have failed for decades are harder to kill than a vampire, an apt analogy because both are bloodsuckers.

BOB: I like your point that the problems with government failures are bipartisan. To take one example, year after year we waste money on planes and ships the military doesn't want.

CAL: Absolutely. This isn't a Democratic or Republican problem. It's a real-life version of the film Groundhog Daywhere the politicians wake up every morning and repeat the same mistakes over and over. Government grows, but the problems remain.

BOB: Government does succeed in some ways: national highways, air traffic control, a magnificent national park system, the Peace Corps. But I agree there are many programs government spends our money on that make no sense. Farm subsidies and misdirected defense procurement lead my list. Do you have any of your own examples?

CAL: As it turns out, I have a new book, What Works, that is filled with examples, but you only have to read the news to see examples of how too many in government fight to protect failing programs rather than risk change. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo backs independent charter schools, but New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio seems more interested in expanding government-run public schools even as they fail. Cuomo could have been citing the book's argument when he said recently that New York spends "more money per pupil than any state in the nation (yet) we're number 32 in results. It's not just about putting more money in the public school system; it's trying something new."

BOB: We do need to try new things. Charter schools make sense where public schools are failing, but most public schools in this country are excellent. My fear is that charter schools will locate in school districts that excel and in the process dilute resources for education.

CAL: But it's just that refusal to get rid of old programs that dilutes the government's ability to succeed in its goals. According to a Princeton University study, the federal government has at least 29 literacy programs, "perhaps many more, depending on the definition used." Some overlap, others are duplicative. There are three Head Start programs. A recent editorial in this newspaper called Head Start "at best a mediocrity." An evaluation of Head Start ordered by Congress found that whatever benefits accrue to kids are lost by third grade and, for some children, actually had a harmful effect. What matters isn't a feel-good name but success in actually educating our children.

BOB: Some Head Start programs work very well, but despite the best intentions, many did not work as expected. Those of us who have continued to support these programs and their good intentions need to recognize that today, they may stand in the way of progress.

CAL:Economist Thomas Sowell has written, "Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good." If we actually care about children or any of the other people the government tries to help, we can't care about what sounds good, only what actually does good.

BOB: I think the progressive community is beginning to recognize that many, but certainly not all, of these programs need to change. Welfare reform under President Bill Clinton was a good start toward correcting those programs that failed to achieve the goals that were intended.

CAL: You're right. To its credit, the Obama administration appears ready to reactivate the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Begun in 1988, BRAC has successfully closed many military bases that are no longer needed but which have continued to receive federal funds, largely because of the political interests of the member of Congress in whose district the base resides.

BOB: The BRAC program consolidated all base closings in one bill, forcing members of Congress to look at the national interest instead of focusing on the one base in their district. BRAC is a good model for refocusing government on what works.

CAL: You're right. All federal agencies should have to justify not only their annual budgets but also their very existence. If they no longer work, get rid of them and save money. We need a new version of Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission on cost controls.

BOB: As I understand your proposal, you favor an independent commission to identify programs that don't work or have outlived their usefulness. Congress would then be forced to vote up or down on all the programs and not be allowed to separate out those that do not work for the entire country but may be located in their district or state. If that's your proposal, Cal, then we have common ground.

Cal Thomas is a conservative columnist. Bob Beckel is a liberal Democratic strategist. But as longtime friends, they can often find common ground on issues that lawmakers in Washington cannot.