I was saying: "If it was as easy for them just to penalize those who break the rules, they could automate the system....but guess why they don't do that?"
Your reply: "The system is automated. Seconds after I filed my online complaint, I saw a confirmation in my e-mail."
The answer: That's called an auto reply. It has nothing to do with what happens next. You van even set it up on your own email if you like, it only takes seconds. It's a fully automated reply just to say you have received the writing.
Every complaint triggers a process that is done "by the book" because many U.S. Government agencies are required by Federal laws and court decisions to be fair to all parties in any dispute.
The answer: That's far from an automated system. If "the book" would say a company is not allowed to miss the deadline of a filing and they would get an automated waring if they do so, and on the second a final warning and on the third they would be automatically de-listed, it would be automated. Now that isn't what's happening here. Each case is looked at separately. And the actions taken (or not taken) differ from case to case.
Every Inspector General has people who are authorized to make arrests if they see criminal behavior in the agencies that they're watching.
Yes, but that doesn't make it that they all take the same actions to every person, firm or case, does it?
This produces an extraordinary amount of procedural routine, which can look like automation if you're not familiar with the rules and the many methods that are used to enforce the rules.
"which can look like automation" isn't exactly the same as automation is it?
Some people summarize this by saying that the U.S. Government has "a system of checks and balances".
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.