Based on a suggestion, soliciting thoughts regarding what, if anything, can (or should) be done that might mitigate the seeming preponderance of sub-national governments that are welded to the US Government teat. We pretty much know that Heinlein's cautionary "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" (TANSTAAFL) applies significantly everytime .GOV's Good Idea Faerie decides to open up the purse and throw money at states, counties, and cities. It's like Crack - its draw is heavy. But the Piper will want to be paid further down the road.
No particular national administration's party is immune to using this lure because it reaffirms the caste system, which is needed to exert control. (Think a 3rd world need of someone to push the cart. You're not going to hire the Pusher. You're going to end up hiring the Pusher, the Pusher's Helper, the Pusher's Helper's Pusher, etc.)
Many of those who've lived most of their adult lives in .GOV/.MIL know how this works when some end-of-Fiscal Year "free" money comes down and "you can have it IF you have a project ready that you can throw it at. If not, they'll give it to the Public Works community to buy more sand for the roads because snow - and we can always use more sand." Show of hands of people who turned money back in to Uncle Sam saying, "Nah, we don't need it, just put it back in the Treasury." Right.
As Exhibit A that is tweaking my Bile-O-Meter, currently the Governor's office in the Demokratic People's Enclave of my state located down in Madison in Dane County (spiritual home of university bombers everywhere) is having quite the go 'round with the Rx2 legislature over how to FURTHER disburse Manna from Heaven (or Biden's K-street lobbyists and the heavenly stimulus bill, take your pic). The Blues do not like that the Reds are pointing out, for example, that acceptance of such-n-such Federal bak-sheesh in this specific piece of the pie (see oxcart analogy above) will actually create more compliance requirements.
Further, that this will HURT a small business's bottom line, as well as still cost the state money it doesn't have, due to one of those ornery "matching funds" requirements. They further point out to the Blues' consternation that this will be worse than if the state simply said "No thanks" and allowed the business to take a credit or write off on their state tax down the road because "OMG Chicom Flu."
Now to be "fair & above board" the Reds are trumpeting "Broadband for all" - and few are reminding them that the regional telecomms already got 100's of millions from your tax dollars & mine to do that very thing, deadline (now 7 years running) of 2022. Meanwhile, rural deplorable-land can't do remote schooling worth a damn. Funny how those political critters all start to blur into the same image.
What seems to foster this mentality of "a state's purpose is to take care of me?" Over a couple generations, have "backwards emigres" from other states polluted the notion of allegiance to one's state that was seen in our earlier history? Has it fostered that dependency that seems to permeate local governments? When Californians started heading for CO many could see the eventual result. (I recall a sign that Delaware once did, I think as a prank, on the interstate facing the eastbound lane coming from Maryland: "No Vacancy Full Up. Go back, we're Closed." Might've been headed to Dover to catch a hop; laughed all the way there.)
I'm not so naive to think that being able to recognize a problem implies the capacity to fix it. Discuss at will, please, whether it be the historical context if it might lead to a remedy (or even IF it should be remedied) and/or spit-ball local solutions to getting local governments off the damn teat of that big sow in Washington, DC - a place which was only supposed to be a rent-to-own location for office space.
Happy Curmudgeon hat on, GBF cup filled with cheap workin' grade coffee. You are cleared hot.
Thanks Ret10E; you were right, it didn't take long.
Linear Mode
