The Signals are There

JULY 27, 2010 E-MAIL THIS PRINTER FRIENDLY

Following politics can be a very depressing game, especially for those of us who don’t believe bigger government is better government. The signals -- the indications -- are there, but we never learn from them. We just keep making the same mistakes over and over.

Let’s take a look at the news from this past weekend, and what that may have to teach us about why we should be placing less trust in central planning and more in personal liberty.

To start with, there’s the slot issue, which is now in court-ordered referendum. Never mind the fact that we already spent taxpayer dollars buying the machines or that we signed five year maintenance contracts on them. All that matters now to our current governor is using the situation to swing some votes, so he’s actually working against something that was began with the necessary intent of bringing funding to our schools. Why did we decide that having the government-run some casinos in MD was a good idea in the first place? Is must have been that enough Marylanders went to Vegas and thought, “Gee this is fun, but I really want these places to remind me of the subtle charms of the MVA…”

Moving on, there’s the $26 million dollars in Medicaid fraud that was recently recovered. Allegedly we lose about $300 million each year to Medicaid fraud, which means that we have now recaptured 8.67%. High five! If private companies were ok with stopping fewer than one in ten shoplifters on their way out of the store they probably wouldn’t spend money on cameras, security guards, and those annoying beeper things. But they aren’t ok with that, so they do spend money them. Unfortunately, American taxpayers have no choice when it comes to funding shoddy government services. We spend what we spend and we lose what we lose, year after year.

Finally, there’s the controversial Baltimore living wage, which was recently defeated in committee. Already, the bill’s sponsor, City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, is preparing for round two. Is it really possible that she has heard none of the arguments against a policy that seems specifically designed to drive retailers from Baltimore City? To stand for improvements in the quality of life of the poor is admittedly important, but why are legislators so incapable of consulting economists -- or even someone who has read at least one book on economics -- when crafting economic policies?

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The Signals are There

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