A senior Bush campaign official condemned excessive bureaucracy as the source of U.S. economic and social problems in a speech at the Kennedy School yesterday.

"Bureaucracy, which was once an aid ... is now a barrier," said James Pinkerton, senior adviser to the Bush and Quayle 1992 presidential campaign.

Pinkerton condemned the bureaucratic nature of today's government as inefficient and wasteful, adding that the current system worsens the problems of homelessness, poverty and inadequate schooling.

Pinkerton said the President strives for "a kinder, gentler America," but that bureaucratic intertia stops him form fully implementing his policies.

The campaign official used education policy to illustrate the failings of the current system, saying that although the U.S. government currently spends more than $400 billion per year on education, achievement scores have gone down in recent years.