Why does government keep growing in spite of a knowledgeable and vocal group of people, including me, who are trying to stop it? One reason is because there are now too many units of government that can raise our taxes and it is nearly impossible for responsible citizens to know what each of them are doing, let alone to stop them. It is the death of a thousand cuts. Each little tax increase bleeds us a little more.
The most recent example is the newspaper headline stating that the Maricopa County Community College District has approved a tax hike. Property taxes are to increase 2%. But the most important part of the news article was the statement “No one spoke against the tax increase during the public hearing preceding the vote.” Had I known about this opportunity I certainly would have been there to protest and I know that others would also do so. But it is simply impossible for one citizen to keep track of all these government entities.
That is why I believe we need a volunteer watchdog organization that would have a person assigned to each government entity, such as college districts, counties, cities, water districts, library districts, hospital districts, etc. I think this may be a task that is too expensive for paid employees but a well-organized group of volunteers could have a significant impact. I have formed a group called “Arizona Government Watchdogs” and I would welcome the participation of anyone who shares my concern.
After reading repeatedly for the last several days about the shock over the IRS targeting conservative groups and the Justice Department confiscating Associated Press communications, and the cover up over the Benghazi incident, the only thing that surprised me is that so many people were surprised. These tactics are routine for any statist, socialist regime and we should expect that they will get worse, not better, as long as we have a president who believes in broad and expansive government controls. The only way to end these abuses by government is to reduce the size of government. Press exposes, congressional hearings, and public outrage will not accomplish this objective. Government has simply become so large that the people cannot successfully fight back.
I just attended a conference that was entitled “Technical Conference on Distributed Energy and Net Metering.” It was put together by Arizona Public Service and “Solar Future Arizona – a Power Pundits LLC Led Stakeholder Process.” But no matter how you label the process, the bottom line of any such gathering is to determine which ratepayers should subsidize which other ratepayers in the production and distribution of electric power. And the only reason that such a conference is even necessary is because the delivery of electricity is a government regulated monopoly.
The latest electric power delivery industry to be “favored” by the regulators is the solar industry. (It was once nuclear power and then more recently wind-power.) However, the requirement that the government regulated electricity providers make money means that these subsidies, now popular for solar, are resulting in other customers having to pay more. These other customers are now complaining. And the subsidies to solar have been large enough to cause Arizona Public Service to experience reduced revenue so now they are also complaining.
The conference I attended had about 50 participants and they were all very knowledgeable people in solar, electrical generation, and regulatory affairs. After more than four hours of presentations and discussions it was abundantly clear that there is no “fair” way to deliver electricity when such delivery is under the control of politicians. The only logical way to extricate ourselves from this morass is to completely deregulate this industry.
Some may recall that another major industry, transportation, used to be heavily regulated like electricity is today and was even regulated by some of the same regulatory bodies, such as in Arizona. The deregulation of transportation was a spectacular success and transportation services (the ones NOT provided by government—e.g., like passenger rail), are cheaper and more plentiful than ever. The same thing could happen to the provision of electricity if government would just get out of the way.
Let’s get on with freeing up this industry and stop having these wasteful conferences that attempt to determine whose ox should be gored and who should be favored. Henry David Thoreau reminded us over 100 years ago that “government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of the way.”
Representative Debbie Lesko is right to demand that, with respect to the recent scandal allegations in the Arizona National Guard, the full report be released to the public. My last five years in the Air Force Reserve were spent working with the Arizona National Guard as the Air Force Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer for Arizona and I could see the pressures that build in a military organization that does not change personnel regularly, as in done in the active duty military. There is a strong incentive to protect your peers and your superiors. Because of this, it is critical to thoroughly examine the recent charges and to make sure that alleged activities will not happen again. This can be done by holding those accountable who were complicit. This should definitely include the Adjutant General since the buck stops there.
Another reason for full disclosure is to refute the suggestion that there may have been a less than honest examination of these allegations because the officer selected to do the examination was another National Guard officer. There is an organization that is professionally tasked with conducting these examinations: the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General. Why was this office not asked to conduct this investigation??
PBS recently aired a special Frontline program called “The Retirement Gamble.” The basic thrust of the special was that financial 401k managers are robbing you blind and that everyone should invest in index funds, mostly because John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Funds and evangelist for index funds believes no managers can beat index funds and, therefore, they are robbing the investor. Bogle may be right if you only look at averages but there are certainly individual managers who can and do beat the index funds, albeit not forever. It should be up to the investor to decide whether it is wise to pay the extra fees in the hope of beating the index funds at any given point in time.
In another glaring example of PBS dishonesty and bias, they never once suggested that investors compare the amount of fees they are paying with the performance of their investment. It should be obvious (even to the corporation haters at PBS) that, if the investments are making more than the sum of the index fund returns and the fees, the idea of paying the extra fees may be sound.
Other than those two glaring examples of bias, the PBS special was very well done.
There is not very much that a lifelong Republican like me can find to praise about President Obama’s politics but his idea to consider selling the Tennessee Valley Authority is certainly on that list. It disgusts me to learn that several prominent Republicans are criticizing this proposal. This rank hypocrisy and failure to live up to free market principles are why the Bush administration will go down in history as one of worst presidencies. If Republicans cannot support a clearly sensible measure to privatize this huge government bureaucracy then the Republican Party will accelerate its death spiral into oblivion.
Why can’t we ever get useful advice regarding rattlesnake bites? Every article you ever read suggests that avoiding rattlesnakes is best, by not walking in areas where rattlesnakes are common and, if one is encountered, not provoking them. Then, if, in spite of these precautions, you do get bit, every single article suggests that you seek medical attention as soon as possible. Did anyone not know that? Why must we be treated like idiots?
If any author does go farther, the only advice is what we should NOT do, such as not sucking the venom or cutting the wound or applying a tourniquet. But there is never any useful advice about what one SHOULD do if medical attention is not close at hand. I am interested in this because I frequently hike alone in the mountains around Phoenix (BTW, attractive female companions of any age—I am 67—are always welcome). For example, is it better to walk quickly or even run, to the nearest point of rescue? Or is it better to conserve energy by walking slowly? If one can reach a potential rescuer by cell phone, is it better to sit down and wait, and, if so, how long?
Information on these questions would be very useful.
We are now past the annual “Holocaust Remembrance Day” activities and editorials. It seemed to me that there were fewer “remembrances” this year. Maybe this is inevitable. I wonder how long it will take before this horrible event is completely forgotten. How important is it to remember? What lessons should we learn? Even in years when there are many remembrances, there is very little said about HOW the Holocaust could have occurred in what was arguably one of the most advanced nations in the world. This is the real answer to the question of why it is so important to remember this event. How could intelligent and well-educated people commit such atrocities and why did so few speak out? Naturally, I want to offer my own answer, an answer which is as simple as it is frightening: the unchecked growth of government. Once power is centralized in the federal government there is a disincentive to criticize its actions for fear that you may jeopardize some provision of the law that benefits you or your friends.
Can it happen again? Can it happen in the United States? Look at our own federal government. Each day our government’s power over the people increases, both through the maze of “entitlement” programs and through the increasing number of special interest laws, rules, and regulations. And our education system (the government schools) teaches children that government is good and that we should obey our government “leaders,” (he who pays the piper calls the tune). Therefore, the graduates of this system are not instinctively inclined to question the actions of the government.
The way to prevent a Holocaust from ever happening again is to remember that government has only one proper function, the protection of our liberty. We should keep it limited to that function. Eternal vigilance is the price of that liberty.
President Obama is right when he recently bemoaned gun violence and said “Shame on us if we forget.” We must not forget the horrible incident at the Luby’s Restaurant in 1991 when Suzanna Hupp had to witness both her parents being murdered because of overly strict gun laws that forced her to leave her gun in her car. In this incident the assailant approached 32-year-old Suzanna and her parents. Hupp reached for her .38 revolver in her purse, only to realize she had left it in her vehicle. Her father Al, 71, rushed at the gunman in an attempt to subdue him but was fatally shot in the chest. A short time later, as Hupp was escaping, her mother Ursula, 67, was shot in the head and killed as she cradled her wounded husband.
Yes, Mr President, shame on us if we forget.
roymilleraz 