Smaller government, lower taxes - but not if it costs us!

One of the drawbacks in working for a smaller government, living within its means (i.e. a balanced budget, with all expenditure adequately funded without excessive borrowing), is that so many people - and so many institutions - have become so reliant on government funding that they oppose any such steps. The latest example comes from New York State, where the Corrections Department would like to shut down several under-utilized prisons, saving tens of millions of dollars for the State. Unfortunately, local towns are fighting tooth and nail (and largely successfully) to prevent the closures, because they don't want to lose the jobs and income that the prisons represent to them.

This dilemma is playing out all across the USA right now. State and regional governments can't afford to fund all the expenditures they've incurred in the past, and so are looking for ways to economize. However, smaller governments have allowed themselves to become dependent on bigger-government largesse, and are raising Cain at the prospect of losing the subsidy represented by such expenditure. That's what it is, realistically: taxpayers are bailing out lower-earning local governments and communities by pouring money into them. Trouble is, it's a bottomless pit: and once you start filling it, you're on a hiding to nowhere.

How are we going to balance our budgets - nationally, State by State, town by town - and deal with our debt overload when smaller governments and other organizations refuse to accept the pain of financial surgery, and demand to be allowed to go on sucking at the Government teat? The answer, of course, is that we won't be able to get anywhere unless and until we deal with this malaise. The surgery is going to be painful, and some communities and organizations may well go to the wall as a result; but we can't go on paying for their support with dollars we simply don't have. There's got to come a time when the gravy train grinds to a halt; and given that, as a nation and as individuals, we're broke, there's no time like the present. Who will have the courage to face the truth, tell it to the people, and challenge them to accept the realities of the situation?

Governor Christie in New Jersey seems to have made a pretty good start on his turf. He's telling his people the truth about the State's economic situation, taking his proposed solutions to them in open discussion forums and inviting feedback, and flattening the vested interests who are demanding that their free ride on the gravy train continue uninterrupted.

Let's look for more people like Governor Christie in other States and communities, and get them into office as quickly as we can. We need them!

Peter