“If being the largest economy in the world and extracting from its tax base the largest governmental budget in the world is dysfunctional, that sounds pretty awesome.” If this is the logic that defines a functional government, then the Federal government seems to be a massive success as well. I’m not sure why this would be the metric for a functional government, however.

Government dysfunction in SF/CA can be seen in the following:

- California’s attempts at public infrastructure: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-s-bu...

- Housing affordability

- SF Central Subway https://sf.streetsblog.org/2019/09/12/advocates-flummoxed-an...

- Homelessness

- Bay Bridge https://sf.streetsblog.org/2019/09/12/advocates-flummoxed-an...

- State budget issues (see pension liabilities)

and many, many more things that go beyond this.