Conservative Government (oxymoron)

Those who believe in government are attracted to work in government. They claim that government does all sorts of good things that wouldn’t be done if government didn’t do them.

 

Conservatives are more skeptical of what government does and would prefer smaller, less intrusive, less expansive, less expensive government. We prefer the policies our Founders gave us when they set up the US government in 1789. That would require our current government entities to return to full compliance with the US Constitution and Bill or Rights (as written).

 

Conservatives believe that our entire financial system is woven into a trap that will eventually leave our government insolvent and lead to a total economic collapse similar to what we see today in Venezuela.  We believe that a true free market system that obeys the laws of economics, particularly the law of supply and demand are necessary to maintaining a sustainable economic system. 

 

Prices need to be determined by the law of supply and demand in order for the free market economy to function.  This doesn’t work unless consumers pay their own bills, otherwise there is no control on prices.  That makes government welfare and third-party payer insurance schemes unsustainable.

 

The best example of the interaction of price and demand is at the grocery store. When beef is too high, consumers buy chicken or pork. The higher price reduces demand.  Likewise, supply can affect price when there is an excess of a commodity and prices are lowered to increase sales.

 

When government interferes with the laws of economics, it creates the kind of dysfunction we are seeing with the cost and value of healthcare and education. Both are highly subsidized by taxpayers and both are overpriced and underperforming. 

 

If consumers had to pay the total costs of healthcare and education out of their own pockets, prices would tumble by 80%. Providers would quickly reduce waste and costs to provide these services at a much lower cost if customers stopped showing up.

 

There are a couple of pieces of this puzzle that need to be questioned.  First, the US federal government has no immediate need to reduce spending, because they can keep interest rates low and print money. They call it “kicking the can down the road”. Government continues to overspend, because their campaign contributors make their living from government spending. Government welfare subsidizes businesses who employ minimum wage people, so they can hold down their labor costs. That’s corporate welfare. The federal government needs a “balanced budget policy”

 

Second, government entities need to eliminate all government debt and replace it with programs that accrue tax funds for future large expenditures anticipated for emergency infrastructure fixes.

 

American taxpayers are not responsible for supporting other countries or foreign citizens. This is a government scam with constituencies so large it’s unfathomable. We have career government employees who are dependent on us being “Santa Claus” to the world and completely corrupt foreign governments who are the recipients.  

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader