I have a hard time calling the US' spending efficient (mostly military) so I think it's more complex than that we're doing socialism 'well'. But the US hasn't fallen apart yet. If both countries are doing it so badly with such a large part of our revenue, why are they failing? Maybe it's less about waste and more about making sure you don't screw up specific critical industries? The situation with California's cheap water even as they're running out is quite a bit like Venezuela's power. Why are we not rocked by such things more often? I'll have to think about this.
Venezuela's economy after the revolution wasn't really a great example of a 'planned' economy. More like:
1) Nationalize oil companies
2) Give free shit to all the people who they promised free shit to
3) Profit?
There's doesn't seem to have been a real direction, no attempt at developing the economy, just Zimbabwe-style redistribution.
At least in the case of the US, the 'waste' generally finds its way into the US economy (through the military industrial complex, the prison system, subsidies to farmers, etc..)
Heck, in the US, the government accounts for over 40% of GDP, and a higher figure than Venezuela...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending
Yes, some states run socialism worse than others. And some states run capitalism worse than others. Characterizing some states as 'socialist' but not ours (which does contain some socialist elements) isn't useful, because it's not always accurate.