A friend of mine recently suggested that I write about something the government is doing right. Federal, state, local. Anything.
Although we lived in the same hometown, we didn’t get to know each other until our college years, when we lived in the same building. He had a wry sense of humor. So maybe he was intentionally trying to stump me when he posted this challenge on my Facebook page. He was probably sitting at home drinking a ridiculously expensive, rare bottle of wine that he paired with Cheetos, grinning at the thought of me struggling to pump out 600 words of praise for the government. Something. Anything. Anything at all.
Well, Justin. You nearly did stump me. However, thanks to the feedback from my more supportive Facebook friends, I came up with something.
There is a lot that the government does right. Finding something to praise is not the reason I was almost stumped: the military; the moon landing; building and maintaining an infrastructure that allows us to explore this great nation of ours; setting safety standards for things such as airplanes and cars. I’m glad there would be consequences if airlines cut corners on mechanical equipment. I’m also glad that food distributors are not allowed to put expired or dangerous food on supermarket shelves, and that there are packaging requirements to prevent nut jobs from causing a repeat of the 1982 Tylenol scare. Regulation has its place.
However, federal regulation has grown out of control as our government has grown out of balance. They’re regulating things they have no business regulating. So, how do I praise something that the government is doing right without condoning the wacky system we’ve got in place now? This is what nearly stumped me.
We, as a nation, forgot that there is a clear line between the local government’s role in our daily lives and the federal government’s role. It’s as if these lines have been smudged altogether and now the entire government is viewed as one giant blur. When a town needs a new library or park, it’s become standard procedure to apply for a federal grant. And what congressman or senator doesn’t want to be the local hero who brought home federal dollars so your kids can have a safe place to play?
Who wants to be anti-playground?
However, building a local playground or library isn’t the federal government’s job. If these things will enrich a community, then it’s up to the local government to pay for it, or, better yet, to find a private charity to build them.
The role of the federal government is summed up by three primary functions:
1) National defense (military)
2) Interstate infrastructure (roads, bridges)
3) Regulating commerce between states and countries (We don’t like it when China puts lead in our toys, so we don’t put lead in China’s toys. Congress figures out the rules we follow for this type of trade.)
Everything the federal government does should be restricted to these three functions. If something does not have a direct impact on defense, infrastructure or interstate commerce, the federal government can’t touch it. Leave it to the locals.
The military protects you and your family from national threats, like foreign invasion. Your local law enforcement protects you from local threats, like home invasion.
The federal government builds and maintains roads between your state and mine. Your city council pays for the new traffic light downtown.
The federal government sets safety standards and regulations for corporations that do business in other states and countries. Your town council regulates how you sell your wares on Main Street.
Or at least this is how it is supposed to work. Local government decides how local tax dollars are spent and local businesses are regulated based on their impact on the community. These decisions are made by your neighbors, people you’ll bump into at the grocery store or the next PTA meeting. They will be accountable to you for the decisions they make.
In this blurry, confusing mess of a government, some things are working because they’re residual of a time when we followed proper guidelines for government intervention. If we want more of the government to work effectively, we need to get back to the original standards and boundaries set by our founders. But that would require cutting programs and spending. And again, who wants to be anti-playground?
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