Conservatives wants to privatize a lot of things. Libertarians want to privatize everything. So what would they suggest about government plows?
Our neighborhood has private roads and we pay for snow removal. With over 40 inches of snow after the last storm, our roads were clear the next day. The rest of our town—a mess. A week later, some streets remained unplowed.
After the citizenry shoveled its sidewalks so kids could safely catch buses, government plows finally appeared, piling the snow back on them and causing additional school cancellations. The response from the Virginia Department of Transportation? “We don’t do sidewalks.”
One could easily make the case that snow removal is a legitimate role of government, but that doesn’t mean it will perform satisfactorily. The same logic applies to, well—everything else.
We currently have a White House on an arrogant and seemingly unstoppable path to increase the size of government and expand its intrusion into our lives. If this continues unabated, government won’t be accountable to us; we will be accountable to it.
Both conservative and progressive economists have criticized the “stimulus” plan as the majority of jobs saved (whatever that means) or created were government-related. Last month alone, more than 33,000 workers were added to government payroll. They won’t be creating new and advanced widgets or performing tasks that result in job creation. They will be unfireable bureaucrats paid significant salaries to manage the continued dependency or economic decisions of others.
In a recent CBS/New York Times poll, only 6 percent of Americans thought the stimulus created jobs. Taxpayers know that much of their money disappeared into the quagmire of political presents, and that they will continue to pay for these now firmly entrenched bureaucrats when stimulus dollars run out.
Poor plowing performance in the Capital area exemplifies problems inherent in a government enterprise. There is no doubt that plow operators worked long, hard, cold hours. But what is mired in bureaucracy will always perform inefficiently.
Four feet of snow is extraordinary in this area. Successful management such an unusual circumstance requires an innovative response including immediate modifications to purchasing, communication, equipment maintenance and personnel management. Government cannot turn on a dime, and it didn’t. It made decisions on based on burdensome systems and budgets constraints.
Government is failing many of America’s children because it can’t respond to changes in educational needs and delivery requirements. It brings you the cheerful efficiency of the DMV and the accurate responses of the IRS. And it wants to control your health care.
To expect government to make rapid adjustments in unusual circumstances or treat every citizen as unique is a fool’s game.
If politicians or bureaucrats appear either on your doorstep or in your wallet with exciting new ways to manage your needs, tell them to go plow themselves. They can take care of the enumerated powers, and we can deal with the rest.
Kerri Toloczko is Senior Vice President for Policy at the Institute for Liberty and resides in Northern Virginia.