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Last evening we learned that Elizabeth Warren sent out an email begging people to take a fresh look at her viral rant about not building your business alone. Putting aside for her moment that the groundwork she is talking about levels a playing field for all of us, not just business owners, it's interesting to see what she thinks is the role of the federal government.
The following paragraph really struck me, as to what Warren apparently believes is the role of the federal government.
But we're pretty sure they're going to need employees who can read and write. They're going to need power to keep the lights on and clean water and functioning sewers to keep going. They're going to need roads and bridges to move their goods to market or bring customers to their store. And they're going to need police officers and firefighters to keep their businesses safe.
Every single one of those things is the responsibility of local government or private industry, not the federal government.
Primary education is the role of local government. Not the federal government. Look at the United States education system. Test scores and performance have suffered ever since the inception of the Federal Department of Education.
Power is brought to market by private companies, on poles they own, that get easements from local government, or in some communities on a grid owned by the town. None of it is the responsibility of the federal government.
Clean drinking water, and a sewerage system is, and should be the responsibility of local government, or a the very most a regional compact, not the federal government.
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| Roads and bridges are best built by a local or state government. When the federal government gets involved in anything more than planning, i.e. the interstate system, the costs go up exponentially. In addition long haul roads can be built by private companies at a lower cost, and more efficient operating cost. These are not the role of the federal government.
Police and Fire protection are the role of local government, not the role of the federal government. A coordination system for the registry of criminals is the role of our federal government, local law enforcement is not.
Elizabeth Warren tells us a lot about the choices in this race, and where her priorities lie. Warren apparently believes that a centralized bureaucracy in Washington DC best knows how to educate our children, power our homes, give us drinking water, take away our waste, build our streets, and protect our homes from petty criminals and fire. That is not the vision that most of us share.
That vision is what has gotten us into the trap we are in, with ever growing debt, and unsustainable budgets. The choice is clear, do you want Washington or Main Street having the most influence on your life? Warren wants Washington, we can most certainly do better.
If she wants to truly affect the list of things she cites above, she should run for a seat on the Cambridge City Council, not the U.S. Senate. |
