We Have a Lot of Work to Do Between Now and the Election

The other day I received an e-mail sent to my City Council address rebutting my views on taxes and the size and cost of government. It probably should have been sent to my senate campaign e-mail address (gina@ginabauman.com) as it was from a Fridley resident who looks to be a supporter of my opponent, but I think it is instructive to publish it here with the identity of the sender removed:

Council Member Bauman:

I am trying to determine why you are so against government. If you believe in democracy, then you know we ARE the government. Can you honestly say you have not benefited from government funding?

After all, your city council salary is paid by whom? Government. Your health care is paid by whom? Government (at least in part). Your grant or loan for your business was paid by whom? Federal government? Your mother's health care is paid by whom? At least in part by government. Let's at least admit that government can do some good things, and if the state budet is cut, what will happen to your mother, you, your family, your city? If Republicans have their way, you and your mother's health care will be the first to go! Are you ready for that?

If you or your children went to public schools, didn't you benefit by government spending? If your mother was in a nursing home, didn't you benefit by not having to pay all her medical costs out of your own pocket? If you went to college, didn't you beneift by student loans and/or grants? If you use libraries, roads, buses, police or fire services, don't you benefit from government?

Government should not control everything, and we need to watch taxpayers' dollars. But at least admit those areas where you and others have benifited from government and stop acting like all government is wrong and only you are right.

I replied to the sender as follows:

From the points you make it seems that we have some fundamental disagreement as to the proper role of government in a representative republic. You also apparently have misinterpreted some of my views.

I am not against government, but I believe that good government should be limited to its constitutionally defined bounds. When government starts interfering in areas and spending money where it has not been empowered to by the people our liberty and prosperity are eroded. Can you name one instance in history where a society taxed and regulated itself to prosperity? Is an ever growing segment of the population dependent on government for their most basic needs a desirable condition?

My city council salary (actually it is more of a stipend) is paid by the taxpayers, not "the government". An important concept you don't seem to take into account is that the government cannot create wealth or money - all government can do is redistribute or consume wealth. All money that any level of government spends has to be acquired through taxation of the people who earned it through their skill and labor. The purpose of our tax system is to equitably acquire the funding necessary for the legitimate functions of government. These funds should be spent on the infrastructure and services government is authorized to deliver. It should not be used for social engineering purposes, or to satisfy the needs of special interests in return for political influence and power as is too often the case.

Not all, but many of the wonderful things you associate with government spending could and should be provided by the free market. For example, a big reason health care costs are so high is that government has interfered in and over regulated both the health care delivery and insurance markets with unreasonable mandates and regulatory compliance costs. Government cannot provide health care - that comes from doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other free market providers who will gladly provide it if they can make a reasonable living doing it, and the insurance industry will provide affordable financing if they are also allowed to do it and make a reasonable return. Government has also run up the cost of education through the creation of a huge, bloated bureaucracy that has become a lucrative industry for several special interests and political careers that often seems to have little regard to the cost and quality of educational product that is delivered.

It is true that we all have benefited from government spending on the legitimate functions for which it was established. It is also true that many people have been harmed as the result of government overreach and interference in our daily lives. How many people have lost their jobs or had their businesses go under due to the poor economy? How many of those jobs and businesses would still exist if the government had operated within its proper scope and means and not consumed an excessive amount of the investment capital market, taxed many private enterprises out of existence, or created a business climate not conducive to operating a profitable enterprise?

It comes down to a question of balance, and currently the scale has clearly tipped toward excessive government spending and regulation at the expense of our personal and collective wealth and liberty. I merely am looking to bring things back into proper balance.

Thank you for expressing your views and concerns.

Gina Bauman
City Council Member

Unfortunately there many other voters with the same misconceptions as the author of the above e-mail when it comes to economics and the proper role of government as envisioned by our founders. This is why we need to work hard to educate those who may not have not paid much attention to such things in the past.