As far as I know people who work for government don't have an automatic tax exemption for doing so. They pay taxes. They pay fees.
When we talk about government on the show there is a tendency for the conversation to steer toward how many government workers there are, what they make and the benefits they get. As a result of this people who are government workers tend to get stuck in a silo.
We applaud firemen as heroes. We recognize that members of our military provide an important contribution to our collective security and safety. How many times has the Coast Guard gone out in incredibly dangerous conditions to save lives around here? Who responds to emergencies and battles crime? Yet when it comes to discussions about government growth we tend to forget all about that.
As far as the local economy goes it is pretty clear that our exposure to the country's financial meltdown has been buffered somewhat by the large number of government workers that live here. Those paychecks helped keep many local businesses afloat.
Saying that we could solve all our money problems by cutting back or freezing government growth sounds like an easy solution until you consider the whole picture.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteAs I listened to a very passionate father of four who called in this morning, I thought about the unintentional implication that all government workers or school teachers might be opposed to the Tea Parties because of its demands that government be more fiscally responsible. I think, and I'm sure this caller thinks, there are plenty of government workers and teachers who believe in these same goals and principles, but just like most of us, find themselves unable to be heard over their leaders, politicians or bureaucratic agency heads who use their positions and public microphones to control their members or constituents. But, you know, it's time to hear from regular government workers, not just ones who are union spokesmen, and to hear their opinions without worrying about intimidation from their employers or unions.
It's of no value to any government employee for this country or state to go bankrupt. Most of them know that we can't all work for the government because government requires private individuals and businesses for the very means (money) to operate. They know that salaries and benefits cannot climb unrestrained, and off the charts of fiscal sanity. Well, the Tea Party is the push-back part of the public debate that spontaneously developed to bring a balance of public vs. private to its proper levels. And it can't be fifty-fifty either, because government cannot take half of our output without strangling the goose that used to lay the golden eggs. I don't know what the percentage of GDP it should be, but it's a lot closer to 10 percent than fifty. I bring these percentages up only because it's often discussed that the public/private pendulum should be centered, but to believe in that is to give government way too much power over us.
Our Constitution grants no power to individuals by government; it is just the opposite: the PEOPLE grant the GOVERNMENT its limited and defined powers, not the other way around (re-read the first ten amendments). The Founders knew what they were doing--they knew what they didn't want--a government that grants what it thinks permissible to its subjects. So, our job here in the United States--our responsibility--is to enforce the Constitution by limiting government to its proper role, and that role is to guarantee our rights as citizens, and those rights are those inherent, unalienable rights that cannot be granted by a government because they exist irrespective of it.
This is what that caller was getting at whether or not he articulated it in a spontaneous phone call. I could hear his philosophy behind his passionate, but calm demeanor. It's what I've heard all this past year from people all over this area. I don't know who the caller was, and it doesn't matter; the caller was all of us, and he represents the best of what this country stands for: a place unique in all the world, where freedom has heretofore operated to produce the most prolific economy and culture the world has ever known. And it accomplished that because of the freedom of its individuals to work in an environment where limited government guarantees the freedom and rights of its people. And when those in government publicly respect this philosophy, and live it, then they too enjoy the backing and respect from its citizens, having earned it.
Thank you for saying this, Tom.
ReplyDeleteAs a local government employee who was born and raised here, pays taxes, is raising my family here and participates by contributing in several volunteer capacities to this community, I very much appreciate your comment today.
We are not faceless bureaucrats, we are your neighbors and friends and part of this community.
And so, what's new here that we have not been hearing since about 1970 in the Libertarian Party Platform?
ReplyDeleteLike the Democrats coining themselves as "Progressives" and All Republicans assumed to be "Conservatives", is this simply the Libertarians tagging themselves with a new name to defray what they really are?
Does this Tea Party movement have any more clear-cut solutions than simply trading regimes this November?
I got a kick out of the Rikkola(sp) woman who gave a little impromptu speech on the courthouse steps after the speakers had concluded. Everyone knows that family has lots of acres up Youngs River and some farmland in central Oregon.Anyway, she was trying to impress the crowd by whining that the government was going to start charging the landowners for maintenance and repairs on their tide land pastures and fields and she felt this wasnt fair. Hey lady, you guys are millionaires, why should the tax payers shell out to keep your fields and cows dry? Besides, how much federal farm subsidies do they collect for not producing crops? If she wants taxes to go down then shouldnt she be against subsidies and federally funded dike repairs?
ReplyDelete