News this week that the Department of Veterans Affairs would fire four senior administrators was seen as encouraging. The firings are in response to scandals — notably the long wait times at many VA medical centers and efforts to cover up the problem with fake waiting lists. The other VA scandal was in Pittsburgh where an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease killed six patients and caused 16 others to be sickened, yet the VA officials there failed to promptly acknowledge the outbreak or take action to stop it.

So, an optimistic view is that the VA announcement of four firings is a good first step toward imposing accountability and restore credibility.

But, that optimistic view is hard to hold on to. The years-long crisis at the VA and headline-making failures in other areas have many people doubting the competency of the government.

Maybe more news and more firings at the VA will convince people that things really are changing. But this week’s story noted that one of those being “fired” was actually retiring. A systemwide failure within the VA involving the wait-time scandal, the Legionnaire’s outbreak, as well as questionable business practices will require a lot more than four people losing their jobs. It will take a culture change.

Against the backdrop of the VA’s small first step to impose accountability is the question of why it took so long to do anything. During his first campaign for president, then-Sen. Barack Obama blasted the Bush administration for failures to properly care for veterans. That was six years ago, and the VA’s problems only grew worse in that time.

News reports of the VA firings also noted that Congress passed a law giving the new VA secretary new powers to more easily fire employees.

In 2013, Time magazine columnist Joe Klein said he was appalled by the ongoing failures at the VA, and asked that if the federal government can’t properly take care of its veterans, what can it do. He placed some of the blame on the federal government itself and the civil service system. Klein wrote, “There are about 2.5 million federal employees. Some of them are brilliant at what they do — and they are drastically underpaid compared to their civilian counterparts; the vast majority, are competent. But there is a significant minority who are dreadful. Some try hard and are dreadful; others are dreadful by choice. They can’t be fired; raises come fairly automatically, via seniority.”

The average American sees a pattern of dysfunction in Washington — six years of known problems at the VA still not fixed, the botched launching of the ObamaCare website a year ago, shocking lapses by the Secret Service, constant partisan bickering in Congress. The list goes on.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman picked up a national sense of frustration after the fence-jumping intruder entered the White House last month, shining an unflattering spotlight on the Secret Service. Friedman put some of the blame on the political class. He wrote, “Listen to what politicians are saying and watch how they spend their time. You can’t help but ask: Do these people care a whit about the country anymore?”

He notes they talk about “public service,” but “it actually looks as if they came to Washington to get elected so they could raise more money to get re-elected.”

Friedman also noted that despite an expanding war in the Middle East, “Congress could not stir itself to return from a pre-election recess to either debate the wisdom of this war or give the president proper legal authorization.” He concluded by asking, “When everybody is so busy running, is it any surprise that no one is running the federal government?”

As voters approach next month’s midterm election, public opinion of Congress and the president is low. There is widespread belief that politicians care more about their own re-election and party power than the concerns of the people.

The bureaucracy of the federal government seems to lead to more dysfunction and failure. Add to that the latest fears surrounding ISIS and Ebola, and more people are wondering if government is up to the job.

Despite the long list of serious crises, political leaders seem to offer only speeches, promises and partisan barbs. Americans want to believe in government, but the lack competency, accountability and leadership makes that difficult.