Questionable Government Activities

Government at all levels has assumed responsibilities that were better left with the Private Sector.  Government does this to funnel tax dollars to their friends and impose “central planning” to increase their power. The “Free Market” is being replaced by a corrupt bureaucracy. This behavior results in mal-investments that fail, because they were not really needed by the citizens but were crafted by the Cronies for maximum profitability and minimum risk. Agenda 21 Land Use and Zoning rules allow bureaucrats, free-spending activists, consultants and contractors to form the “gang of crooks” group. You see these scams like the Atlanta Trolley, Underground Atlanta and most urban redevelopment projects.

 

This gang of crooks has resumed their campaign for MARTA train expansion to the suburban counties. Cities and counties are too cowed by the gang of crooks to support really goofy expenditures, like on-street bike lanes and multi-use paths, bizarre intersection Roundabouts and unnecessary Stream Buffers. These were UN Agenda 21 scams designed to make us broke and crash our economy.

 

The Atlanta Civic Center, built in 1967 is closing to become a low income housing project, because after 50 years, the “patrons of the arts” have not been going there to see a ballet, opera or stage show. The abandonment of Atlanta by the Braves and the “arts”. 

 

This hasn’t happened in St. Louis because there urban planning included road and highway systems for easy access.  Bush stadium remains in its original spot with regular refurbishments and Forest Park venues are maintained and mostly free and both continue to draw crowds from the suburbs on non-congested roads and highways. The population of St. Louis Metro is now about 3 million.  The City of St. Louis remains the cultural center and is contained in and surrounded by St. Louis County.  St. Louis Metro is a manufacturing town with St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin counties bordering St Louis County.

 

It’s easy to understand why government spends tax money on roads, bridges, highways, water treatment, water distribution, sanitary sewers and trash disposal, because everybody uses them.

 

It’s a lot harder to understand why government spends money on things that are not used by everybody. Government at all levels needs to examine their spending and continue to question why their expenditures are as high as they are.

 

There are lots of private enterprises receiving tax subsidies and it’s hard to understand why this continues without a challenge from the voters and a serious response from their elected representatives.

 

There are lots of questions that need to be examined and answered honestly.

 

Airports built, expanded and operated with tax dollars allow the Airline carriers to avoid having to pay for their own facilities, Private bus companies don’t have this option, because they have figured out how to remain profitable.

 

Commuter trains continue to receive tax subsidies, because the ridership is so low. These trains should be self-supporting and should be privatized

 

Sports stadiums are built with tax dollars for professional sports teams, who have income from tickets and television rights, but other entertainment enterprises pay for their own facilities.

 

Economic Development used to be a Private Sector responsibility. Companies used their own money to build and operate their businesses. They do this very carefully, because they are risking their own money.

 

There are other government expenses that are traditionally government responsibilities, but they require oversight to keep their costs in line with their services.

 

The Police investigate crimes after the fact, but they do catch these criminals and that should be a deterrent that should reduce crime. Police work is improved and costs are reduced automation, cameras, databases and science, but citizens are responsible for preventing crime.

 

Fire Services also react after the fact, but they can prevent your neighbor’s house from catching fire. Homeowners and Apartment Complex managers are responsible for fire prevention and should look into installing a lightening rods.

 

Ambulance Services also react after the fact, but they rescue accident victims and deliver them to be repaired. Family members are responsible for beginning CPR immediately to keep heart attack victims alive until the EMTs arrive.

 

Prisons need to be able to separate inmates into groups like peaceful and hostile. They need to prevent inmate take-overs by “war lords” and better control their facilities. Prisons need to keep inmates busy working to earn their own keep.

 

Legislatures need to review current laws in committees to identify laws that are in need of repeal or rehabilitation. They need to resist the “bum’s rush” tactics that absorb all of their attention to push through high-speed scams.

 

Courts need to follow the US Constitution (as written) and challenge Legislatures to not pass unconstitutional laws. They need to remove predatory law suits and make the loser pay all legal and court costs. They need to end malpractice suits to allow County Medical Associations to use license revocation, suspension and mandatory training to discipline medical malpractice cases. They can end contractor scams by using licensing organizations to handle consumer cases.

 

Public education may have made sense to establish neighborhood schools, but they have become unaffordable and underperforming, because of government required propaganda and sabotage. Government schools should stick to reading, writing and arithmetic and find out what each student loves to do.  Parents, teachers and students should control the curriculum. School boards should stop building million dollar school mega-buildings and organize to help parents, teachers and students to take over the curriculum. Text books need to change and Common Core needs to go. Student performance will soar. Homeschooling is an exelent choice.

 

Social Security is an unsustainable Ponzi scheme and will eventually need to be converted to a Private Account retirement program, so that participants can invest their contributions to earn enough to retire on. The federal government will need and additional $1 Trillion a year in general revenue to make this transition possible.

 

Healthcare is broken due to government actions like requiring Hospitals to treat deadbeats free and cost-shift to paying customers, allowing Big Pharma to overcharge us, allowing treatments that don’t work to go mainstream and finally approving Obamacare to crash the system. This need to be returned to the “free market”, to allow consumers to control prices.

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader