More federal government control has made things much better, right?

 

Commentary by James H. Shott

Most Americans probably have at best a foggy concept of the degree to which the federal government intrudes into their lives, and just how many people are paid to conduct that intrusion from dozens, perhaps hundreds, of departments, agencies, bureaus, divisions, boards and other bodies.

In March of this year the U.S. Census Bureau reported that as of March 2010, the last year for which complete data exist, there were 3,007,938 total federal employees, 2,583,768 of them working full-time, with a payroll that month of $16.2 billion.

Depending upon whom you believe, federal employees either make lots more than their private sector counterparts (according to Republicans and other small government advocates) or lots less than private sector employees (according to Democrats and federal employee union leaders). Looking at total wages and benefits, the Republicans and small government advocates are closer to right, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

A CBO report in January of this year concluded that federal employees with no more than a high school education and those with a bachelor’s degree averaged higher total compensation than their private sector counterparts by 36 percent and 15 percent, respectively. But where benefits are concerned, the lower the education level of the federal employee, the greater the disparity in paid benefits. “Average benefits for federal workers with no more than a high school diploma were 72 percent higher than for their private-sector counterparts,” while those “whose education ended in a bachelor's degree were 46 percent higher” than for similar workers in the private sector, whereas workers with “a professional degree or doctorate received roughly the same level of average benefits in both sectors.”

We euphemistically refer to federal government employees as “public servants,” but increasingly it seems that it is we who serve them. And just what is it that they are up to?

Many of them are madly creating rules and regulations with the force of law and enforcing them. Most of them were not created by Congress, the only government branch empowered to create laws, and Congress is not even specifically aware of many or most of them, except when someone writes a letter of complaint. Furthermore, all of this regulating and penalizing often occurs without oversight by anyone besides other bureaucrats.

“A man’s home is his castle” is a phrase that once represented America’s personal freedom, meaning that people enjoyed the position of rulers in their homes, and others had no right to enter without the householder's permission. That is no longer true; now, Washington is in charge.

This situation has become so perverse that attorney and author Mark Levin describes it thus: “America has become a society in which the people are wise enough to select their own leaders, but too incompetent to choose the right lightbulb.” In his brilliant book “Ameritopia: the Unmaking of America” he cites as one example of the degree to which the feds have become entangled in our day-to-day lives the government’s involvement in the food industry where “the federal budget for regulating nearly all aspects of food, from production to consumption, exceeds the entire country’s net farm income.”

And that is just for our food.

Here’s a test: Before reading further, make a list of the things in your most personal space – your home – that government at some level doesn’t regulate. It will not be an impressive or long list.

Now that you have completed the test, here are some of the things in your home about which you have little to say, courtesy of Mr. Levin: washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, dishwashing detergents, microwave ovens, toilets, showerheads, heating and cooling systems, refrigerators, freezers, furnace fans and boilers, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, lightbulbs, certain renovations, fitness equipment, clothing, baby cribs, pacifiers, rattles and toys, marbles, latex balloons, matchbooks, bunk beds, mattresses, mattress pads, televisions, radios, cell phones, iPods, and other digital media devices, computer components, video recording devices, speakers, batteries, battery chargers, power supplies, stereo equipment, garage door openers, lawn mowers, lawn darts, pool slides, toothpaste, deodorant, dentures and virtually everything one could put in a medicine cabinet.

Things are not improving under President Barack Obama. Dr. Robert Moffit, writing for The Heritage Foundation, reports that “[s]ince President Obama took office in 2009, federal agencies have issued 75 major regulations with an annual additional cost to the economy of $38 billion. Taken altogether, the Small Business Administration last year estimated that the total cost of America’s regulatory burden reached $1.75 trillion—more than twice what Americans pay in individual income taxes,” and more than the annual budget deficits each year since 2009. And that is just from the federal government; state and local bodies also contribute.

And if it isn’t bad enough that these multitudinous rules and regulations stifle productivity and make things cost a lot more, some of them are manifestly stupid. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee, Wisconsin requires purchasing an expensive license, submitting a pile of paperwork on the inventory to be sold, and a fee based on the length of the "going out of business sale."

What has happened to the “Land of the Free” and the self-reliant spirit that made this country great?

Cross-posted from Observations

Leaders Are Like Eagles. They Don’t flock.

Leaders Are Like Eagles.  They Don’t Flock.

You Find Them One At A Time

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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I’ve been thinking about leadership the past few weeks.  Normally, I don’t spend a great deal of time sitting around pondering leadership.  However, when a Presidential election looms, I do.

Choosing a leader is a dangerous thing.  America should have learned this lesson from the results of the election of 2008.   We are paying dearly for our monstrously bad choice in a national leader.

When I look at our nation’s leader today, I am reminded of something someone said a while ago.  I don’t remember who said it, nor do I remember the exact words the original author used.  But if I may be allowed to paraphrase -- it goes something like this:  “ In times of dire danger or distress, there almost always appears one who has all the answers and knows exactly what to do, what course of action to choose.  Often, however, that person is insane.”

America is approaching another moment of decision.  It behooves us all to search diligently for someone to lead America back to her proper position as world leader.   We Americans chaff at following.  We are totally unfit for following.  We are a nation of leaders.  It is our birthright.  It sparkles in our DNA. 

America has no king -- because we refuse to follow a king.  We do not recognize the “Divine Right of Kings.” 

It is a near impossible mission for a nation, such as ours, to choose one from among us to bear our nation’s colours, to represent us before the world.  Often we get it wrong. Occasionally, we get it right.  At our last time of choosing – we got it wrong.

In roughly eighteen months we will have a chance to correct that national mistake and save our country.

There are always devastating consequences resulting from bad choices.  The deadly consequence America faces is the loss of its freedom, of its liberty, of it’s very “self” as a nation.    Yet, there is reason enough to believe that we, as a nation, are set to repeat that mistake -- and doom our country.

Someone once said:  "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. In the end, leaders are much like eagles...they don't flock, you find them one at a time."(Anonymous)  (I have this “pearl of wisdom” written inside the flyleaf of my Bible.  It has been there for at least twenty years.  It is a frequent reminder of how few leaders there actually are.)

I thought of this expression as I observed the “flock” of Republican Presidential candidates grace the debate stage in South Carolina a short time ago.  Maybe it’s my nature, but I automatically question the motives of ANYONE who actually SEEKS a leadership role, especially if that role is a position of power over me.

Allow me to offer an example of what I see as a REAL leader.

Remember Moses?  God chose Moses to lead his people, Israel, out of bondage in Egypt.  He announced his decision to Moses, as the Bible tells us, through the “Burning Bush.”  If I may be allowed to paraphrase, it went something like this: 

God to Moses:  “Moses, I want you to go down to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. Then I want you to lead them out of that ace and take them to a land I will show you.” 

Moses to God:  “Why me, God?  I’m not the guy, you want!  Nooo!  I’m no public speaker.  I stutter and stammer and, well, I’m not the one you want for this mission.  Hey, why not send my brother Aaron.  He’s the guy you REALLY want.  Not me, Lord.

But as is His wont, God prevailed, Moses, went, Pharaoh caved, and Israel walked away a free people after four hundred years of slavery.  

Moses was a reluctant leader.  He was, nevertheless, one of the greatest leaders of men ever to live.

Lao Tzu, traditionally considered the founder of Taoism, once said the following:  "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him.... But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves."   (Does this remind you of a current national leader?)

Here in America, we have a year and a half to decide, each for himself, or herself, whom our next President should be.  (My personal decision is already made, but he is reluctant to lead America.  THAT fact (that he is reluctant) plus his many attributes that just scream L E A D E R! assures me that my choice is practical and sound.

The fate of America, indeed, the fate of the world, is at stake.  America is desperately needed, once again, in the role of global leader.   We have tried all the rest.  Isn’t it time we turned to a person reluctant to seek the reins of power?  Yes, I think it is.

This not the time for Americans to follow an “uncertain trumpet.”  We need a strong, capable, visionary, with proven leadership skills, willing to accept the call of his people to get out in front and carry our banner, our ensign, into whatever may befall us as a nation. 

Unlike today, Americans WILL rally to a leader -- not because HE thinks he deserves it, but because WE think he deserves it.

J. D. Longstreet