During a visit to Texas last week, President Barack Obama demonstrated his boundless faith, in the face of seemingly contradictory evidence. His faith is in the left’s vision of government by the clever.

During a question-and-answer session at Austin’s South-by-Southwest Interactive conference, Obama acknowledged the many failings of government, even government by the young, smart and tech-savvy.

“Our government’s not working, our politics aren’t working as well as they should,” Obama admitted.

When pressed on the reasons why, Obama told an interviewer it was because government isn’t very efficient.

“Let me give you an example of the big and the bloated and the frustrating,” he said. “You may recall that I passed this law called the Affordable Care Act to give people access to health insurance – and then the website didn’t work. And this was a little embarrassing for me because, you know, I was the cool early adopter president, and my entire campaign had been premised on having really cool technology.”

But this acknowledged failure didn’t lead to a rethinking of this form of government – let’s borrow the term “technocracy.” Instead, it led to more of the same.

“What happened as a consequence of healthcare.gov breaking down,” he said, was that “we realized we could build a SWAT team, a world-class technology office, inside government. We did that with the U.S. Digital Service.”

And then he doubled down on the notion. All government really needs, in order to be effortlessly efficient and completely competent, is more power in the hands of the right people.

“I’ve said I could change the politics of America faster than anything if I could just take control of all the DMVs,” he said.

He tipped his hat to the private sector, but maintained – even in an aside – that government is central to all good things.

“Government is delivering every day,” he said. “I could find the fiercest libertarian in the room … but they’re checking the weather on their phone, and lo and behold, there’s a government satellite out there that’s facilitating that.”

But that’s the thing – government isn’t at the center of that interaction. It’s integral, but let’s be honest. Weather satellites are a valid use of public resources, as they are vital in the nation’s defense.

But the cellphone technology and the distribution of information is entirely a private sector phenomenon.

Imagine if telephone technology had been left in the hands of government. What would phones look like today? Well, imagine a communications device designed by the aforementioned DMV. You wouldn’t be far off.

Even the left-leaning New Republic magazine recognizes that the technocrats have failed.

“The administration talks as if it believes that mandarin progressive elites know what’s best for the country, and any critic or whistleblower who challenges its judgments about national security should go through internal channels or be ruthlessly suppressed,” Jeffrey Rosen wrote in 2013, regarding the administration’s policy failures.

But those failures haven’t shaken Obama’s faith. He’s convinced, and no evidence will sway him. Government, in his eyes, is always the answer.