End Government Abuse

Service Monopoly

Government is a service monopoly, hired by the legislatures to provide basic services like water supply reservoirs, maintenance and construction of roads and bridges, sewers and water treatment.  In addition, they provide courts, police, jails, fire and ambulance services.  They also provide laws and ordinances. 

They should not be allowed to provide what could be provided by private enterprise like education, healthcare, recreation, arts, theater, charity, philanthropy, land investing, commercial development, tourism or marketing. If elected officials insist on showing up for photo ops for ribbon cutting ceremonies, it’s only fair that they show up and present dead flowers to those who are going out of business.

Union Abuse

Unions are pervasive in government employment.  Unions also are allowed to back candidates who pass laws and ordinances. This has resulted in unions owning elected officials, whose job it is to extract maximum tax revenue to feed government employees.  There are no checks and balances in place to correct this.  Elected officials do not act in behalf of regular taxpayers; they act in behalf of their campaign contributors.  Unions were rumored to have formed to protect workers from abusive “robber barons”.  Who were the “robber barons” government employees needed protection from ?

Utility Abuse

Utilities provide clean water distribution, electricity, natural gas, phone service and cable service. Public utilities all employ union workers.  Again, who are the “robber barons” we are protecting them from ? 

Pension Abuse

Government and utility employees all have Pension Plans for their employees.  Teachers who have come to hate their jobs are given the incentive to stay because of their excessively rich pension plans.  Defined Benefit Pension Plans should be terminated and replaced with Age Weighted Defined Contribution Plans, so that “near retirees” are not left in a lurch.  At the same time, a separate new Defined Contribution Plan should be established and participants encouraged to have their Pension Termination checks deposited to it.  Pension Plans have resulted in municipal bankruptcies that leave retirees with no retirement income.  Pension Funds are invested in the stock market and other investments and taxpayers are on the hook for losses when the value of these investments decline.  The fact that government and union employees own the elected officials, who are unable or unwilling to not give away the store has resulted in the need to terminate all Pension Plans.     

Campaign Finance Reform

Unless campaign contributions are restricted to registered voters who will have the candidate on their ballot, elected officials will never represent the voters.  Excuses that allow for our legislatures to be purchased by the highest bidder have included claims that special interests are entitled to their political voice. I suggest they run their own ads, put up their own websites and make their own case. No unions, businesses, power groups or out-of-towners have any right to purchase our elected representatives or any candidates.

Bad bills are passed

Legislatures have established their own rules.  These rules allow legislators to pass bad laws.  Their favorite methods include killing good laws in committee and passing Omnibus spending bills that allow bad bills to be incorporated.  New Legislators face pressure from the old guard to go along with “horse trading” as a way to get their bills passed.  They are given the opportunity to vote for a bills in exchange for getting support on their own bills.  Principled legislators are isolated and discriminated against by the “gang”.

Bad Laws are Never Repealed

The Community Reinvestment Act 1993 required mortgage lenders to approve mortgages for unqualified borrowers and together with HUD rules caused the 2008 Meltdown.  Communist lawyers sewed lenders and banks settled these lawsuits by paying settlements and abandoning their lending standards.  These laws have not been repealed.  The 2008 Meltdown did give lenders permission to restore their lending standards, but banks are still subject to this abuse.

Municipal Abuse

Communitarian Laws violate Private Property Rights

The U.S. Constitution restricts governments’ powers to own property and requires “fair market value” be paid for any land government may need to build roads or conduct business.  Over the decades, laws and ordinances have been passed that allow private property abuse.  I am sure it began with wrongheaded citizens demanding that their elected officials do something about abandoned buildings and it spread to land seizures for whims and kick-backs.

These laws need to be reviewed and amended to strengthen property rights for owners.

Easements may have started innocently, to give occasional access for utilities to service their equipment, but the actual land owners are not allowed to build anything on them.  That introduced the notion that property owners would suffer limited use of land they own and pay taxes on. 

Permits, fees and fines have become a source of municipal abuse due to absurd federal regulations like land disturbance codes and unnecessary permit and inspection requirements like appliance and water heater replacements. Not long ago, the only thing requiring a permit was a building addition or load-bearing wall removal requiring load calculations.  Now It includes replacing driveways, roofs and build-in appliances and HVAC units.  These never required permits before.

Police are allowed to seize private property without a warrant if they “believe” it could be associated with a crime and never return it.  This includes cash, boats, cars, homes and belongings.  The Police department sells the property and keeps the proceeds.

Municipalities are allowed to seize private homes if they own any property taxes.  This is often done quickly, without notice and could be done due to an error.  Municipalities can condemn property for any reason or no reason.  Municipal court fines have become a major city revenue source.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader