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by Jeremiah
In its most pure form, the nature of the debate between the Right and the Left is over what functions, or services, are necessary for government to carry out. This post is not meant to rehash that ageless tug of war, especially since the nature of that discussion is often driven by a philosophical bent over the role of government. Instead, this post is meant to get folks thinking about the operations of those functions that are performed by government.
In framing this issue, I would ask folks on the Right to take a hiatus from their tiresome declarations of all Democrats being socialists. And for my friends on the Left, I would ask that we discard with the idea that all spending is good spending, or the foolhardy approach that there are limitless resources from which to draw funding for worthwhile social programs. In essence, I'd like people to focus on how government can do what it does- just better.
WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT
I prescribe to the idea that government is of and for the people. It does not exist beyond us, it is us. When there is inefficiency in government or a public program that hemorrhages money to little social good, it is basically like having a door open in the middle of winter while your heater blasts away to regulate the temperature. Not only does it not make any sense, it drains resources that could be spent on other necessary expenses.
We all have an interest in closing that door but we often stumble at whether or not there should be a door or not. One side will say that the door should not exist in the first place. The other side will say the door is absolutely necessary and must remain. These often partisan debates, which I am not innocent in furthering and even enjoy, take our eyes off of the common sense first step. We all live in this house. It is, in fact, our house. So, just close the damn door.
STEWARDS OF RESOURCES
There are limitations to our resources. Obviously everyone knows this but it sometimes gets lost in the pursuit of the ideal. I think what happens is that advocates of a certain issue get so wrapped up in the cause that they forget the larger picture. Again, I am not innocent here and in the heat of the battle I have often had to check myself to make sure I am not hurting other causes I care about by pursuing the ideal on a single issue.
Thinking of it another way, I am a proud environmentalist. I believe that one needs to live reasonably with nature. We are the stewards of our natural resources and must ensure that we pass down a healthy and viable ecosystem to subsequent generations. Many progressives will completely agree with that statement yet when it comes to being a steward of our tax dollars, that dedication to conserve sometimes falls prey to the desire to push for more services and programs. I think the full progressive agenda would benefit from the philosophy behind that stewardship approach. Let's live with our fiscal realities in order to preserve services and programs.
SMARTER GOVERNMENT BENEFITS ALL
Government must be better. The stereotype of government bureaucrats with mounds of unnecessary paperwork is unfortunately a reality in many ways. Government should be operated with the efficiency of a business and where the profit motive of business can be appropriately controlled, government probably should cede program operations to business. I don't say that because I am anti government, but because I want the public to receive maximum services with the resources available to us.
I am not against certain levels of privatization as long as that privatization is well regulated, the public constantly surveyed of their opinions on the effectiveness of services, and vendors kept to task of well developed contracts. To me, it is the provision, efficacy, and effectiveness of services that are important, not the mechanism by which those services are delivered.
It is a no brainer that fraud, waste, and ineffective spending should be addressed. Yet, this low hanging fruit is often more difficult to pick than you would think. We need better management of public programs; policymakers that are driven by a desire to have more effective government, not necessarily more government; and a public willing to hold public officials accountable for inappropriate expenditures or waste.
CONCLUSION
We the people are the government. We must better manage our resources and realize that there are limitations to our resources. Finally, we must maximize the resources that we do have available by demanding more efficient operations, using existing private sector resources where possible, and holding one another accountable for waste, fraud and ineffective spending. |
