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Hernando Today

How Governments Grow

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By DONALD J. MYERS

A Mind of My Own

Published: May 30, 2008

Once upon a time, the Republican Party believed in limited government, lower taxes, fewer regulations and less spending by the government. It seems that too many in the party no longer believe in those virtues and, as a result, they continue to lose at the election booth. If one wants to be a liberal rather than liberal-lite, one may as well go with the real thing — the Democratic Party.
As an example of the growth of government, the headlines in Hernando Today for May 28 reported that the county is paying more than $780,000 for lawyers and assistants. A county commissioner stated that for a county as large as Hernando, it needed five lawyers and their support personnel. He went on to say that scandals in various departments added to the need. Then he added that additional lawyers were hired with specific expertise as needed.
Gee, why not hire people and supervise them so that the scandals are eliminated. I know, some will say that that is pie in the sky. I do not accept that.
As the commanding officer of numerous organizations, I always had the highest re-enlistment rate and the lowest disciplinary rate when compared to similar organizations. That was because everyone knew the standards expected and that they would be enforced. Promotions and awards also led in comparison to others. Mayor Rudy Giuliani did the same in New York City when he became mayor. The police enforced all laws to include the minor ones. The criminals started to adhere and not carry weapons because they were afraid that they would be stopped for a minor infraction, and they always knew that they were violating some law or another.
It worked. Murders and violent crime plummeted. The city became safer.
Returning to the initial point: In my opinion, a lawyer would be sufficient to check various procedures to ensure that they are in fact legal for Hernando County. Any other needs for a lawyer would be contracted out. Unfortunately, too many public officials look at the number of personnel under their control as a measure of their power and influence, thus they always want to add more.
We are facing a slowdown in the economy and now is a great time to truly look at what is absolutely necessary for the governments to do. There is very little that private industry cannot do better and cheaper than government if the incentive is obvious. UPS and FEDEX both move millions of packages daily and are able to report where they are and have them arrive on time. Our credit card companies can approve a cash authorization in a matter of seconds with an ATM card after an individual enters his card and PIN number. Countless other examples can be cited for the ability of commerce to excel when a profit is to be made.
There are those who actually believe that making a profit is obscene and dishonest. I recall when I worked with a group that ran juvenile facilities for adjudicated teens. This was a privately run organization and several of the employees had always worked with either the government or non-profit organizations. Even though we operated facilities cheaper and more effectively than the state governments that we relieved, these individuals actually cringed when profit was mentioned. In their view, it was immoral to make a profit when dealing with teenagers in trouble even though we did it much better than the states did.
Capitalism works and, when given the opportunity, it is the best of the best. Incentives work, and they need not only be financial. I much prefer the private sector to the growth of government.

Donald J. Myers, a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is a regular columnist for Hernando Today. He can be contacted at DMyersUSMC@aol.com.

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