What fool trusts government?

Vail Daily letters to the editor | VailDaily.com

 What fool trusts government?

Those imploring us to trust in government are clearly too naive and uninformed to voice a cogent opinion justifying that trust, let alone to define the role of government for us all.

An objective review of just a few of our many government departments, agencies and programs illuminates most to be dismal and costly failures. If you bother to dig deeper, matters only get worse, yet the powers that be continue repeating the same failed behavior expecting different results.

Banks and lenders were under heavy government regulation prior to and during the mortgage meltdown that initiated our economic crisis, despite Bill Clinton's lies to the contrary. Legislators and government regulations created the environment that made the housing collapse inevitable, and government regulators failed to prevent it. Government did this.

Elected government officials including Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and their cronies assured us that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not at risk and there was no problem. They are very stupid or they are liars. Either way, they belong in prison, not in public office. The two GSEs have cost taxpayers hundreds of billions in bailout bucks and currently hold over $1.2 trillion in distressed loans. It's not over yet, folks.

Wall Street has long been heavily regulated by the SEC and other government regulators. Again, either the government regulators failed or their failure was intentional. Rather than investigate the companies involved, perhaps there should be an investigation of the regulators who failed in their duty.

The U.S. Department of Energy has utterly failed to attain its 1977 directive of achieving U.S. energy independence and should have been terminated decades ago. Instead of euthanizing this diseased sow, DOE's budget has grown to more than $26 billion per year.

America needs energy and we must become energy independent, but 35 years later, the DOE has failed to even address its stated objective. Today, instead of pursuing that goal, the fools at DOE are filing lawsuits against American businesses while they throw away hundreds of billions of taxpayers' dollars on failing, bankrupt and corrupt “green” businesses. Investigate DOE, shut it down and save more than a quarter of a trillion dollars over the next decade.

The U.S. Department of Education is an insatiable and dismal failure. Throwing more money down this rathole will not do anything to improve education. Gutting this bloated pig and returning those tax revenues to the states will keep more money closer to the students and their communities where it belongs. There is no justification whatsoever for a federal Department of Education, constitutionally or otherwise. It's just another malignant out-of-control bureaucracy that defeats its own reason for existing.

The question people should be asking is, why do we even have a federal Department of Education in the first place? The Department of Education was created as a straight political payoff to the teachers unions by President Jimmy Carter in return for their 1976 endorsement — aka, graft and corruption.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the Department of Education's original budget in 1980 was $13 billion in 2007 dollars, and it employed 450 people. By 2000, it had increased to $34 billion, and by 2007, it had again more than doubled to $73 billion. The budget for fiscal 2011 was $77.8 billion, and the department employs 5,000 bureaucrats.

All of this spending has done absolutely nothing to improve American education. Between 1973 and 2004, federal spending on education more than quadrupled, yet mathematics scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress rose just 1 percent for American 17-year-olds. Between 1971 and 2004, reading scores remained completely flat.

This is not my idea of a highly effective or worthwhile federal agency at which we should continue to throw $78 billion per year, just another failed government department that has not been held accountable to any sort of standards.

Social Security and Medicare are both insolvent. Depending on whose numbers you prefer, both are either already broke or will be in three to 24 years unless taxes are raised and benefits slashed. Those concerned with baseless claims that the Ryan plan would “change these programs forever” need to understand that Obama has already done that. Paul Ryan is simply trying to protect seniors who already are or soon will be dependent on these programs. There are simply too few contributors and too many recipients in these programs. This is just math, not an opinion, and it is supported by the CBO and numerous independent audits.

The U.S. has been waging the “War on Poverty” for 48 years and has yet to claim victory, yet few have called for us to pull out of this endless and expensive quagmire. Instead, politicians have succeeded in perpetuating a multi-generational cycle of poverty, thus ensuring themselves a reliable voting bloc of government dependents. People need to learn that charity is not the role of government and spending other people's money is not philanthropy.

The Environmental Protection Agency has no constitutional authority, yet its unelected bureaucrats act as a legislative branch of the government by unilaterally imposing policy and regulations without congressional approval.

The EPA may have served a positive role when first established, but no more. This $10 billion per year apparatchik of the Marxists in D.C. continues to grow like a metastatic cancer. End the EPA and save $100 billion in less than a decade.

By the government's own assessment, between $100-$200 billion is wasted each year in redundant and failing programs, yet none of our elected officials can bring themselves to eliminate any of them. The nonpartisan GAO compiled a list of these federal programs that could serve as a template for lawmakers in both parties if they truly intend to cut federal spending to reduce the deficit. End them all and save $2 trillion in 10 years.

Based on recent assessments, 28 percent of federal programs are not performing. That's the government's own opinion of itself! Other estimates are much more critical.

The U.S. State Department's decision to contract embassy security to unarmed guards in the most dangerous locations in the world and failure to increase security on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 are just two of the most recent examples of lethal stupidity, ineptitude and wanton negligence by our federal government.

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and her bureaucrats have the blood of Ambassador Chris Stevens and his staff on their hands. They must be held accountable, but it's unlikely they ever will.

All those currently in charge have repeatedly proven themselves inept and incompetent, and too damned stupid to shoulder any responsibility for decisions affecting the lives of others. If they cannot make correct decisions necessary to protect the lives of our diplomatic staff in secured embassies, how can anyone be gullible enough to believe they are capable of making decisions to protect our entire nation?

The current administration continues to alienate our true allies as we keep sending foreign aid to countries that despise us and wish to do us harm, to people who have repeatedly voiced their hate for us, countries that have committed acts of war against us and yet our current leaders do absolutely nothing about it beyond issuing flaccid statements containing some harsh language, taking care not to offend the guilty parties. They are all beyond disgusting.

Proponents of Big Government foolishly believe they can mitigate all risk from life and all misery in the world, if only they can pass enough legislation and impose enough regulations and collect enough taxes to pay for it all.

Anyone who believes more government is the solution to any of our problems clearly is not paying attention, and I for one do not want such people making any decisions affecting me. It's time to fire the current lot and put the adults back in charge.

Buddy Shipley

Edwards