It May be Nice, but Is it Right?

I have been getting a flurry of "legislative wrapup" emails lately. Many of the items in the messages are about all the wonderful things that the legislators are "giving" to us.

It frustrates me that politicians get away with this. Thomas Sowell said it well, when he described government as "taking your money silently, and then giving some of it back flamboyantly".

That is is what is happening, though. Politicians extoll the benefits that come from government, but seldom talk about the costs.

Remember that government has nothing to give. This is not a talking point, but a fact. Every penny spent by the legislature is taken from the people as taxes (or fees). It's not as though the legislature has a secret stash. And don't forget, those taxes are taken by force. If you don't believe me, try refusing to pay your taxes and see what happens.

Legislators don't even limit themselves to spending the money they have taxed away. They have discovered a back-door way to "give" us things by mandating that others do the giving. Land use regulations are the classic case. Local governments like to mandate "green space" or other "public" accomodations as payment for the right to develop land. The straightforward way to do this is to compensate the developer for the right of way as any other user of the land would do, but with the power to withhold zoning authorization, a sort of extortion goes on. The landowner "negotiates" with the city to get the ability to use the land by giving the city various kinds of access or other concessions. It has gotten so bad that municipalities appear to be the ones in charge of development, almost functioning as the general contractors in any large development. The result is higher costs for the developer, and ultimately higher costs for his customers. (and not always doing well)

Another excellent example is the cluster of laws and regulations on electric utilities. Legislators satisfy pressure groups by requiring that the utilities produce energy in a certain way, price it in a certain way, and transmit it in a certain way. This obviously raises costs for the utilities, but the utilities don't mind. They are monopolies that are guaranteed profits by the state. Ratepayers are the losers. Ratepayers pay directly with higher electric rates. Employees are losers, when their jobs are lost due to the high cost of electricity, as employers leave the state, or decide not to locate in Minnesota. There are other losers too. Eagles are killed regularly by windmills. There is a controversy about this in California with the future of the condor in the balance.

In all these cases, politicians win. Pressure groups win. Ratepayers, employees, taxpayers, birds and others all lose. Pressure groups get to feel good about having won whatever expensive thing they have forced on others. Everyone else pays.

This is not to say that all laws are bad. It is clear that public roads are broadly beneficial, and a modest gasoline tax to fund them both satisfies a need, and imposes costs in rough proportion to how much the gasoline tax-payer uses the road. Unfortunately, we have gone so far beyond these core functions of government that it is scarcely recognizable. Where does the state get the right to decide when your employer should give you sick leave? Why should poor farmers in northwestern Minnesota help fund a Mayo Clinic expansion, when they are unlikely to be able to afford to go there? Why should elderly people struggling to pay their bills fund tuition freezes at public universities that are clearly not very frugal with tax money?

There are many, many other cases are where people have figured out how to hijack the power of the state for their own purposes. They take the money and freedom of others to accomplish something that they could neither do with their own resources, nor work together with others to do voluntarily. They run roughshod over those who get stuck with the bill. Not only is this grossly unjust, it unavoidably generates serious conflict. In a world where so many decisions are made in the political arena, no one can afford to let the "other side" gain power. If you're looking for the real reason for "gridlock", look no further than this.

The next time you hear a politician touting the benefits given to you - a Megamall, a Stadium, subsidies, vacations, or health care, think about the costs. Think about the people paying the bills.

Don't think "how nice." Think "is this right"?