Tim Pawlenty wants to apply the Google test to the Federal government, saying “if you can find a good or service on the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it.” He wants to kill the Postal Service, Amtrak, and federal home-mortgage agencies. I say while we’re at it kill national parks, regulatory agencies, health insurance, and schools. Then let’s kill libraries, sidewalks, and help for the poor. Kill unemployment insurance and financial aid to college.
When we’re done, we’ll be super competitive. Growth will be incredibly high and businesses will be humming as we will have fought the “unrelenting trench battle against the overregulation that’s suffocating America’s entrepreneurial spirit. (Pawlenty)” Life will be wonderful once again.
Don’t have the $30 entrance fee to the national park? Sorry, maybe you can go next year.
Can’t afford the $30,000 for a private school? Come on, pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Shy of the $10 you’ll need for the internet café because the libraries closed? Maybe you can ask a friend.
Recently unemployed with 3 kids to feed? Sucks to be them. Maybe a church will help.
Can’t afford the lawyer to fight the chemicals in your drinking water from fracking? Walmart sells bottled water.
Don’t have the 20% down payment for a house? Renting is nice.
Yes, government costs money to run. But the alternative is a place where, like Washington state and its state parks, only the rich can afford anything.
The cycle of destroying our very social fabric is upon us and my small example is Mackworth Island. Seems simple enough. Budget in Portland is in trouble so you suspend payments to the park. With suspended payments and the need for maintenance on the island, fees are charged. What once was a nice island for hiking near the ocean with my girls is now a luxury at $3/person and we haven’t returned since. And you could make a case that I could afford it. But what about lower income people in Portland? Mackworth Island might as well be Disney World. In Tim Pawlenty’s world, we make everything pay per service. Everything.
For Tim Pawlenty, the Google test represents the awesomeness of limited government. But for most people, applying the Google test just leads to an empty search bar.
