Firefighters

Fascinating post from Marginal Revolution about what firefighters actually spend most of their time doing (hint: the answer isn't fighting fires)

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/07/firefighters-dont-fight-fires.html

Classic problem with government spending, we see this in the military all the time. If you give an agency more money they will find ways to spend it, whether or not it actually benefits the public.