SERVICES

Is It Impossible to Shrink Any Government?

Georgia will now collect new taxes on food and some services.  Honestly, I’m tired of cutting back while government grabs more.  Has it become impossible to shrink government until revenues exceed expenditures, on any level? 

In 2009, for the first time in our nation’s history, more people worked for federal, state, county, city and local governments than worked in the private sector.  We demand government services, better services and more services.  But few government departments have proven that they can effectively manage much of anything.  They often pay far more for it than the activity should cost.  And they build a large bureaucratic overhead to get any job done.  So, just how much of this can we afford?

Governments do not generate money – nearly every dollar a government spends is generated by taxes or borrowing.  It is OPM – other people’s money.  Right now, the federal government borrows 41 cents of every dollar it spends, and the national debt is piling up.  Today, nearly every state, county, city and local government is upside down, with costs and expenses exceeding tax revenues.

When governments “cut back,” the first thing they cut are those services that directly hurt the people (We, the People, who pay for all that stuff).  They cut back on police, fire, EMS and teachers – so there, that should teach us a lesson!  Do they cut back on layers upon layers of bureaucratic overhead?  Do they eliminate duplication between departments? Do they intentionally look for and implement efficiency and streamlining opportunities?

Let’s keep in mind that on average the public sector pays 20% more, including salaries, benefits and pensions, for similar jobs performed in the private sector, by taxing the private sector and private citizen.  Has that job been performed 20% better short-term or 20% more effectively long-term?

The public sector is now discovering that when you have more than 50% of all employees working in government and pay 20% more than the private sector, you have an unsustainable business model unless you have an unending source of tax revenue.  What are We, the People, prepared to allow to be taxed next?

Hence forth, unless perpetual tax creep is acceptable to you, I suggest we elect officials who shrink and streamline their respective governments.  They need to build in controls and processes to ensure that we don’t have to literally take food out of the mouths of our children to pay for anything unnecessary, inefficient, unaffordable, useless or wasteful.

Tim Grady is a Senior Strategist and advisor for NetMark International, a business advisory firm in the Atlanta area.

Copyright © Tim Grady – the views expressed herein are those of the author and not of the company or its staff members.