What services are most important?
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
There is an editorial topic before us and published online at www.highlandcountypress.com which asks: What government services are most important to you? We felt the timing of the question was appropriate, given the economy of the times. A fair number of government agencies, offices and departments have been, for the past year or so, forced to reduce their respective budgets. As these cuts continue or level off, we are left with a few questions.
1. (The aforementioned) What government services are most important to you?
2. What government services are the least important to you?
3. What impact, if any, have the cuts had on you?
Let’s do it the American Way and start at the bottom and work our way to the top. For the former majority of us – now a minority for the first time in U.S. history – who do not receive any government assistance, the impact of these cuts in spending is minimal. In fact, it’s virtually unnoticeable. This is not meant, in any way, to diminish the efforts of others so employed by the various government offices. The point is, simply, there remains a number of us who derive no income and little service
from these agencies. (Yes, we drive on the government roads and cross the government bridges, etc.!) In evaluating government services, it’s kind of like evaluating a beauty contest. If your daughter’s in it, to
you, she’s the winner.
Of the roughly 42,349 people in Highland County, it would be interesting to know how many could identify the ongoing county budget cuts and identify specific impacts the cuts have had on them. The same holds true for the roughly 11.5 million Ohio residents and the 308 million U.S. residents, on any applicable state and federal cuts.
My guess is that on the local and state levels, a majority might not be as concerned with budget cuts. But when it comes to the federal programs, e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc., the numbers might be reversed.
Regrettably, we have been conditioned over the past 40 years or so to expect a “cradle to grave” security blanket from the federal government.
Equally regrettable, is the fact that we often fail to realize we get a lot more “bang for the buck” from our local tax dollars than from those taken by the Feds. Thus, many of us are inclined to dismiss the reductions in local services, provided the assistance from Washington shows up on time each month. The second question – What government services are the least important to you? – may be the easiest.
For starters, just take a look at the myriad state (www.ohio.gov) and federal agencies and ask yourself what essential function to many of them provide? Unless the essential function is an intentional expansion of government and more cronyism jobs, the answer is lost on most of us.
About 10 years ago, a state lawmaker told me, “The U.S. Department of Education could disappear tomorrow and no one could name one good thing it’s accomplished in the last decade.” (Spending money doesn’t count.)
Ohio has a commission of Hispanic/Latino Affairs. I’m not sure what
it does. But IF such a department is, indeed, essential, why not a department for French/Canadian Affairs? Or Irish/American Affairs.
While Ohio has more than 150 agencies, offices and departments – and more than 13,000 unnecessary state vehicles, all at taxpayers’ expense, the Feds have more than 1,300 offices and enough vehicles to
clog I-75 in both directions from Ohio to Sarasota, Fla.
So, what government services are most important to you?
On the state and federal levels, I’ll defer to what conservatives used to call The du Pont Doctrines. The list, written by former
Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont, goes like this:
• We must protect our liberty and use our military power only to advance our direct national interests.
• The safety of our streets and neighborhoods is our first domestic priority.
• Encouraging a market economy is the nation’s first economic priority. This means lower taxes and less government regulation.
• Government cannot fulfill people’s lives. Only the energy and freedom of individuals can do that.
• We must offer equality of opportunity to all and compassionate help to those in need. In return, we must demand individual responsibility.
• A cohesive society requires a set of shared beliefs that define the behavioral norms of all its members. Our policies must reinforce the American culture.
In 1991, 30-year veteran of The Washington Post’s editorial board,
Alan Barth wrote: “The government of the United States, for all its majesty, is a government of limited powers. It operates under the terms of a fundamental charter – a written Constitution – which specifies what it may do, and also what it may not do, and which fixes certain procedures for its dealings with its citizens. If a Constitution is to have force and meaning, the restraints which it imposes on the government must by implemented by men as detached as may be from political pressures and popular passions.” (see www.fff.org)
On the local level, it seems we can and often do follow a course of somewhat limited, and mostly efficient government. This most certainly includes law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical professionals. It also, without question, includes my township trustees who keep the back roads plowed from December to March.
At the end of the day, though, if any level of government has more offices and expenses that provide little measurable services than it has offices which provide essential services, it’s not an efficient government. It’s really as simple as that.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
1. (The aforementioned) What government services are most important to you?
2. What government services are the least important to you?
3. What impact, if any, have the cuts had on you?
Let’s do it the American Way and start at the bottom and work our way to the top. For the former majority of us – now a minority for the first time in U.S. history – who do not receive any government assistance, the impact of these cuts in spending is minimal. In fact, it’s virtually unnoticeable. This is not meant, in any way, to diminish the efforts of others so employed by the various government offices. The point is, simply, there remains a number of us who derive no income and little service
from these agencies. (Yes, we drive on the government roads and cross the government bridges, etc.!) In evaluating government services, it’s kind of like evaluating a beauty contest. If your daughter’s in it, to
you, she’s the winner.
Of the roughly 42,349 people in Highland County, it would be interesting to know how many could identify the ongoing county budget cuts and identify specific impacts the cuts have had on them. The same holds true for the roughly 11.5 million Ohio residents and the 308 million U.S. residents, on any applicable state and federal cuts.
My guess is that on the local and state levels, a majority might not be as concerned with budget cuts. But when it comes to the federal programs, e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc., the numbers might be reversed.
Regrettably, we have been conditioned over the past 40 years or so to expect a “cradle to grave” security blanket from the federal government.
Equally regrettable, is the fact that we often fail to realize we get a lot more “bang for the buck” from our local tax dollars than from those taken by the Feds. Thus, many of us are inclined to dismiss the reductions in local services, provided the assistance from Washington shows up on time each month. The second question – What government services are the least important to you? – may be the easiest.
For starters, just take a look at the myriad state (www.ohio.gov) and federal agencies and ask yourself what essential function to many of them provide? Unless the essential function is an intentional expansion of government and more cronyism jobs, the answer is lost on most of us.
About 10 years ago, a state lawmaker told me, “The U.S. Department of Education could disappear tomorrow and no one could name one good thing it’s accomplished in the last decade.” (Spending money doesn’t count.)
Ohio has a commission of Hispanic/Latino Affairs. I’m not sure what
it does. But IF such a department is, indeed, essential, why not a department for French/Canadian Affairs? Or Irish/American Affairs.
While Ohio has more than 150 agencies, offices and departments – and more than 13,000 unnecessary state vehicles, all at taxpayers’ expense, the Feds have more than 1,300 offices and enough vehicles to
clog I-75 in both directions from Ohio to Sarasota, Fla.
So, what government services are most important to you?
On the state and federal levels, I’ll defer to what conservatives used to call The du Pont Doctrines. The list, written by former
Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont, goes like this:
• We must protect our liberty and use our military power only to advance our direct national interests.
• The safety of our streets and neighborhoods is our first domestic priority.
• Encouraging a market economy is the nation’s first economic priority. This means lower taxes and less government regulation.
• Government cannot fulfill people’s lives. Only the energy and freedom of individuals can do that.
• We must offer equality of opportunity to all and compassionate help to those in need. In return, we must demand individual responsibility.
• A cohesive society requires a set of shared beliefs that define the behavioral norms of all its members. Our policies must reinforce the American culture.
In 1991, 30-year veteran of The Washington Post’s editorial board,
Alan Barth wrote: “The government of the United States, for all its majesty, is a government of limited powers. It operates under the terms of a fundamental charter – a written Constitution – which specifies what it may do, and also what it may not do, and which fixes certain procedures for its dealings with its citizens. If a Constitution is to have force and meaning, the restraints which it imposes on the government must by implemented by men as detached as may be from political pressures and popular passions.” (see www.fff.org)
On the local level, it seems we can and often do follow a course of somewhat limited, and mostly efficient government. This most certainly includes law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical professionals. It also, without question, includes my township trustees who keep the back roads plowed from December to March.
At the end of the day, though, if any level of government has more offices and expenses that provide little measurable services than it has offices which provide essential services, it’s not an efficient government. It’s really as simple as that.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]