Here is a list of stupid things the government spends money on. If we go back over budgets of years past, we would find plenty more stupid things the government wastes money on.
Years ago, the late Senator William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin awarded a Golden Fleece Award for really idiotic government programs. If there was a Golden Fleece Award television show, it would run a lot longer than the Oscars. That’s without the speeches….
Members of both parties campaign against the deficit. Over and over, Americans hear platitudes about cutting it. However, reality trumps political speeches. No matter which party is in charge, the deficit and amount of government spending has grown. The reason Republicans and Independents (who are they really?) were so chagrined with the Bush administration is they had the opportunity to cut spending and didn’t. 9/11 helped them create another bureaucratic monstrosity. Only a government employee would want to see a women prove that she was carrying a breast pump on a plane. Humiliating.
But, talk to a small businessman about dealing with government regulators. They will stop at nothing and don’t know humility. There are legions of anecdotes. Ask a person in the body shop business about their experience when the OSHA man visits. Ask the garbage business proprietor about the EPA. Ask the family farmer about the USDA. Along with the stories, there is also a legacy of deficit.
What’s wrong with America? Nothing is really wrong with Americans. There is something grossly wrong with what we have allowed our government to become. It’s far too big. It’s inefficient. There are no real market related checks and balances that can constrain it. At least if a big corporation performs poorly, they go out of business provided the government doesn’t bail them out.
There is only one way to deal with the deficit that will work. Eliminate the agencies. Sell off the public lands, sell off the unused buildings. End the subsidies of all things. Let businesses and individuals sink or swim based on their skill and delivering value propositions to the marketplace.
We have passed out enough Golden Fleece Awards to last three eternities. We know the problem. Now it’s time to fix it.
Critics will say, “That’s cruel”. We will be cutting people out of jobs. We will be increasing unemployment. We will be allowing corporate America to run roughshod over everything. However, those critics are incorrect. Short term, people will lose a government job that probably shouldn’t have existed in the first place. “Make work” jobs don’t add value. Jobs that come from employment by the private sector do add value because the private sector wouldn’t hire them if they didn’t need them.
Corporate America won’t run roughshod over anything. It’s an individuals choice whether to use a companies services or not. Very few companies in America have a monopoly. No one is forcing you to eat at a certain restaurant, and no one forces you to shop at a particular store. It’s not cruel to cut the size of government.
What is cruel is to continue to build up the deficit, extend the reach of government and stay on the road to serfdom. Deficits and high taxes brought down the empires of Europe. Oversized and over reaching governments will do the same in America.
You can follow me on Twitter here.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member