LOCAL GOVERNANCE

I am a strong believer in the idea of local government, however given the manner that it has been created and implemented in Rhode Island, I am less inclined to defend it as it is presently constituted.

Locals know what they want and should have the power to get it. The closer government is to home the more likely it is within the grasp of an individual. Big government is allowed to exist and grow only because it is so far removed from those being governed.

Federal government and state government are both guilty of saddling the locals in terms of government. The federal and state lawmakers and regulators have made local government a farce. The locals have been so hamstrung by federal/state law and regulation that the mere existence of local government is little more than a dog and pony show and a means to appease a population.

I serve up as an example, state education policy. The locals are largely responsible for implementing state policy and, at least in the suburbs, pay a large part of property taxation to accomplish state set goals and mandates. There is labor and education law in place making local control just shy of impossible.

Aside from the issue of over-regulation in a society, there is also a dearth of talent on the local level to adequately defend local turf in the inter-governmental wars. In bygone days, local officials were more powerful and took the role of statesman rather than politician. Today, given the reality of political life, such a role as a statesman is growing extinct.

Local government, within a society that is highly regulated, becomes a costly and somewhat needless operation. As Rhode Island falls greater and greater into debt, the idea of having thirty-nine separate local governments, in addition to fire and water districts with taxing authority, all makes a weave that is both inefficient and superfluous.

Consolidated services would make much more sense, but it is unlikely that such a trend would be easily accepted. The political payback system would be severely impacted by such a move and so it is unlikely that the General Assembly would ever seriously consider impacting its local political bases.

There is great irony in that there is a Home Rule provision in the Rhode Island Constitution. Home Rule is mostly language. The ability of a city or town to self govern is completely lacking.

The days of local government may have passed us by. I, for one, will miss them, but what value is having them if they are not effective? Thus, we have two options in Rhode Island. Either give local governments far more autonomy in policy or consolidate to minimize costs.

Countywide taxing, building and zoning, assessments, education, and even safety services could be well served on a county or half county basis since most of these areas are currently highly regulated by state law and in the case of the cities, largely paid for through state taxation.

In the future I will discuss the benefits of local governance. I will discuss the need to consolidate services and I will speak to the issue of specifics related to the need to deregulate, especially where the state and local governments meet.

GAMBLING

Gambling is little more than a tax on the mathematically challenged. The odds of winning are skewed against the player and yet the draw is tremendous. The psychological need to be considered "lucky" is a part of the human existence, and as such, perpetuates this losing bet.

This is not a tirade against gambling. If a person wants to lose his or her shirt playing poker, the ponies, or pitching pennies, far be it from me to tell that person not to do so. I believe in individualism, and as such, I believe that we all have the right to be stupid as long as the gambler understands he or she must pay the consequences of this stupidity.

I grew up in a family that enjoyed gambling. I spent many a day and night at various race tracks. My father enjoyed the races. We never missed a meal, and I have to admit that he gambled responsibly. I never saw him lose more than the share he had allotted to lose for the night. He wasn't a compulsive gambler; he just gambled.

As with all things, too much of anything leads to ruin. Gambling is no different. Done responsibly, it is a pastime. Done irresponsibly, it is a disaster. Moderation and self responsibility are the key, no more and no less.

I saw the gambling spectrum very young. Having visited most pari-mutual tracks in New England before I was seven, I could recognize those who were social and tell them apart from those who had a problem. My uncle, a house painter, would have me, as a kid, run into the pool hall to drop off a hot meal to his workers who had lost a paycheck at the horses and was spending the night sleeping on a pool table. Even though they had lost their last buck, I could see the glimmer in their eyes when they talked about the bet that almost won.

For me, I rarely gamble. If I do gamble, I bet at random, and have little or no desire to win. I do this because I fear that if I chose to gamble on something lacking randomness in its selection, I think my ego would think that I could “beat” the house or the odds. Cards for fun, certainly; cards for money, never. But that is my personal distinction and not one that I would care to impose on the world.

Now that you understand my personal approach to gambling, I can discuss what I see as the gambling situation in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island is, sorrowfully, hooked on gambling. To solve its budget problems for the last two decades, it has grown reliant on gaming. Instead of doing the heavy lifting to create viable employment opportunities in the state, the government has sat back and let good jobs be supplanted by gambling and tourism.

Gaming revenue is not a bad thing, that is, it is not a bad thing if you don’t rely on it. If the state had utilized its gaming money as pin money instead of income, we would be doing quite well. Gambling revenues used for one time expenditures, especially capital expenditures, is a logical and sound financial approach.

Instead, Rhode Island has been hooked on gaming and now needs the money to survive day to day. This reliance cannot be good for Rhode Island’s future. With higher levels of gaming competition, the decline in disposable income, and the general weariness with this form of entertainment, Rhode Island may be poised to pay a high interest rate as a result of its reliance on this fast money.

Consider this, Rhode Island actually gets a really high percentage from its in-state gaming parlors. Imagine if it didn’t get such a good deal.

In the last round of gambling initiatives, the proponents shot themselves in the foot by teaming with the Legislature to promote a casino. The greedy hands of legislators soured the deal for many, even those who like myself, have no real aversion to allowing gaming and would have voted for a casino if it had been cleanly presented.

The fact of the matter is that a well designed, well regulated, and fiscally sound approach to gaming is not automatically a bad thing for Rhode Island.

In the future I hope to review the gambling situation in Rhode Island. I also wish to consider the need of Rhode Island to seek such revenues and the proper way to use them if they come about. I further wish to look at how a gaming effort may be too little, too late -- in short, looking at how the legislature’s inept attempts at promoting gaming have hurt more than helped Rhode Island successfully harness a revenue stream.

HEALTH CARE

Health care is a topic that is best severed into smaller portions. The sub-sections are quality, cost, universal coverage, and a peripheral issues surrounding health care in general.

Rhode Island will be the focus of this discussion, but Rhode Island does not operate in a political vacuum. It is part of a national system. To the extent the two could be separately discussed, I will try to do so.

As to the quality of health care, there is little doubt that American health care in general leads most of the world. The American legal system has kept the system expensive as all hell but has succeeded to a goodly extent in making sure that just about every test has been completed to avoid a potential malpractice claim.

The reality is that the legal system has destroyed the cost effectiveness of health care. But, don’t blame it all on the lawyers. The doctors have a share in the related costs of health care. A friend once said “If doctors weren’t in it for the money, they’d be social workers” -- an interesting point to ponder.

This all leads to a system that is up to the highest standards and at the highest costs. With the exception of college costs, there is probably no area where costs have increased so dramatically. But high cost and high quality do not necessarily equate to efficiency.

The solution to any public concern over health care therefore must include a review of costs and procedures and a restructuring of the medical malpractice laws so as to retain it in concept while adopting a more reasonable standard for health care that is not considered inferior treatment.

Where there is a duty to treat in our hospitals, it is little wonder that those without health care coverage end up at the emergency room for treatment. As just about any idiot can tell you, time in the emergency room is both costly and wasteful. Hospitals are going broke. But, to address this problem, there needs to be available, affordable alternatives. Without this, why bother?

The question of universal coverage, then, becomes a political issue. The reality is that it is government that has created this situation and now it is considering such stupidity as forced insurance on everyone. The reality is that the state has extended its coverage beyond its means, expanded the ability to file malpractice actions, and now claims error. It is like a boy who shoots his parents begging mercy for being an orphan.

The facts generally demonstrate that health care in Rhode Island is available. It is of good quality. It is expensive. But it is available universally, that is, depending on the availability of money to pay for it. The problem for the government is that it has found itself in the role of paying party.

People enjoy the protections offered by ads for trial lawyers during the afternoon television schedule. All people like to be healthy and make money. That's a given. But the solution is not universal health care insurance. To indirectly tax people to pay for this is merely the same old government policy of "screwing up the works" and then putting the bill on the taxpayer, in this case not by direct tax, but by indirect mandatory insurance (a tax in disguise).

In the future I will try to expand on these thoughts, using this framework. The next installment is likely to address the holistic approach that is required to “solve” this government condoned crisis.

By standardizing care, by freeing up the system from questionable litigation, by providing for alternative care, and by getting the government as far away as possible, there may be a chance for recovery.

STATE TAXATION

Rhode Island is taxing itself out of existence. It is sad to say, but there are few taxes that Rhode Island ever saw that it didn’t implement. There are the basic straight forward taxes, the less obvious gasoline and tobacco taxes, the sales taxes, the hidden taxes called fees, and the various other business licenses, estate taxes, property sales taxes, and so on.

To operate a state government, there must be money. The money must come from taxes.

There are only three scenarios to minimize a tax burden. Take in less taxes, thus curtailing what can be spent. Spend less money, thus minimizing the need to tax. Or create a new revenue source, i.e. expand the pie, usually through job creation and not through a wider tax net.

As our so called political leaders have shown, it is easier to use these methods against each other rather than to provide real progress in terms of tax burdens.

Rhode Island is one of the least friendly tax states. This is due partly to the poor spending practices of the government for decades. These spending practices are just now catching up to the taxpayers.

By providing services, government expands. By regulating activities, government expands. By giving employment to cronies for election security, government expands.

The reality is that Rhode Island must restructure itself to minimize government. Small government should be the goal, but it is not.

Instead, we have politicians proposing stealth taxation in addition to the taxes that currently apply. For example, by putting a mandatory health insurance plan in effect, the government will control the application, the people will be forced to have the policy (and pay for it), but the government can say that this mandate is not a tax.

The real objective of Rhode Islanders should be to seek a smaller government. There is a real need to forego extensive regulation. There is a need to forego extensive government services and benefits.

This is not an argument for abolishing government. It is an argument for a reasoned government, a balanced approach to spending that emphasizes the need for and rewards greater individual self-reliance.

The problem is that everyone wants everything. The problem is that there is an over-reliance in the state on public employment. The problem is that the General Assembly hasn’t gotten off its asses to make employment opportunities through an attractive business climate.

In short, we are taxed to death because we accept the stupidity that parades itself as government.

This is little more than an argument for a streamlined, freer government that forces self-reliance on its people. This does not mean that government must be cruel. It means that people have to realize that they are pumping money into a stinking rat hole because they are apathetic. We need to re-evaluate what it is we want from our government. We need to put logic into our current applications of government. I may just be that simple. The hardest part is to convince the thick-headed majority of voters that they really aren’t getting the best representation when they blindly vote in candidates based on party affiliations.

In the past I have warned about the over reliance on a property tax. I have argued against the fleecing of the people via the licensing process. I have advocated for a fair progressive form of taxation, largely through the graduated income tax. I have proposed several methods of saving taxes through a more effective government. But alas, I have wasted my time and energy. As the saying goes, there are none so blind as those who will not see.

In following discussions on this topic, I will discuss a plan to better tax the people of Rhode Island, giving a full discussion to the need to refine its method of taxation and the need to use taxation to facilitate policy instead of to pay bills.

ELECTIONS

Elections, if fair, provide a sense of direction. Like communication, there are two components. In communication there is speaking and listening that are both required to convey the actual message. Similarly, in elections there is a need for a fair election system and an electorate.

A fair election with an ignorant electorate is unlikely to produce a positive result, although a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. An informed electorate with an unfair system will also produce a less than positive result. The difference is that an informed electorate would never tolerate an unfair election system. This calls into question the various outcomes of Rhode Island elections over the years.

Popularity contests are more appropriate names for Rhode Island elections. The electorate, lacking any political acumen, chooses candidates by long standing family names or because of a party affiliation. This is an outcome predictable in a third world nation, but should be rare in an educated population.

The problem with the stupid voter concept is that they elections result in long standing allegiance to an established political machine. The people, having voted, feel content in their determinations, but the reality is that they are merely blindly effectuating the status quo. As such, government lacks honest debate of ideas and is allowed to wallow in a cesspool entrenched special interests. Sound familiar Rhode Islanders?

Whether or not it is the role of social leaders to encourage an educated electorate is worth of debate, however few political figures make a valid attempt lest they risk their power base. The ability to keep the power out of the unwashed masses has many advantages for operating a government. If unanswerable to the people, the government, and more importantly, the political figures running the government, can act as it chooses, left unchecked by the stupid electorate. Even dictators hold elections, they just employ a different method maintianing political loyalty.

Historical records of election results that rarely move beyond the same old same old are indicative of the fact that the electorate is either satisfied with its choices or that it has no real choices, or both. Why domesticate a swine so as to live in a house when it is happy in the mud?

As I grow old I look back over the last 25 years of attempting to reform elections. I have advocated for several legislative bills that would have made the system more equitable and more responsive to the electorate. I advocated for instant run-off voting. I advocated for the elimination of the primary system and allowing a blanket race for the seat. I advocated for state funding of election campaigns. All for naught. For all that talking, I realized that there was no listening.

After my last run for Lt. Governor it became readily apparent that it may not be the system that is deficient. It is the voter. By not being able to get out of his or her electoral way, these people are targets for governmental charlatans.

It can be no surprise that Rhode Island’s malaise and its governmental atrophy is what it is. The people voted for this.

When you exist with an ill informed electorate, you can only expect the standard result regardless of whether or not you have the best system of voting in place. I don’t know whether to express sorrow or contempt, but I know that it is this very ignorance in the people that is Rhode Island’s Achilles heel. The winds of change must reach hurricane force to bring about a sustainable positive change. During a hurricane we will see just how many Rhode Islanders will get out of the rain.

While I will attempt to address various election issues in the future blogs, it is unlikely that any of the proposed reform will replace the blame that is at the voter's door as the culprit behind the downfall of Rhode Island.