“UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. ... It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.”

— President Barack Obama, Aug. 11, 2009

At a New Hampshire town hall meeting, the president went off the Teleprompter, and had an “open mouth and insert foot” moment.

I’m sure he immediately regretted speaking the words, but they were widely quote and greeted with sardonic laughter by frustrated Americans.

Indeed, the federal government does almost nothing well. It wastes money on needless bureaucracy, and manufactures methods of lining the pockets of greasy-palmed contributors. Because of this, the bigger our government gets, the poorer we all become.

It was a strange point for the president to make in the midst of a meeting designed to drum up support for his health-care proposal, which would, of course, greatly expand the size and control of the federal government.

One place where federal mismanagement and gross inefficiency can be seen most clearly is in fisheries. From Texas to Maine and California to Washington, the federal government has botched more fisheries than Michael Jackson’s surgeon did nose implants.

That’s particularly true here in the Bayou State.

“All of the fish in Louisiana that are in good shape are in state waters; all of the fish that are in terrible shape are in federal waters,” said Jeff Angers of the Center for Coastal Conservation.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the red snapper fishery, which has been mismanaged to the point that recreational anglers were given a mere 10-week season with a two-fish limit in 2009. Limits will likely tighten even further in 2010.

You would think the federal government would take its hands off the throttle, and turn over control to someone who has a clue where the ship is headed, but as government is wont to do, it’s actually expanding its control.

NOAA head Jane Lubchenco is exploring methods to use catch shares in several fisheries, including red snapper, where there is a commercial and recreational component. Under the catch-share system, individuals or corporations must buy the rights to harvest a segment of a particular fishery.

Angers supports a plan that would transfer management of red snapper and other offshore species to the states.

“We’re encouraging governors to ask for the right to protect their citizens’ access to these fisheries that have been so poorly managed at the federal level,” he said. “For the most part, the state fisheries managers have done a great job.”