Old News
"When will our politicians realize their jobs are finished?" humorist P.J. O'Rourke once asked. "When can we say of our political system, 'stick a fork in it; it's done'?"
Alas, the answer is: never -- not so long as there are elections. It is not enough merely for candidates to proclaim that they will continue to maintain the sound policies and good governance of their predecessors. They must continually promise more, more, and yet still more -- no matter how absurd the result.
The latest example: Brian Moran's "Silver Virginia" proposal. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate promises to create an "aging czar" in the governor's office to coordinate programs for senior citizens.
Mind you, this would not be the Virginia Department for the Aging -- whose purpose already is "to help Virginians find the information and services they need to lead healthy and independent lives as they grow older."
Nor would it be SeniorNavigator, "a public/private partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia Department for the Aging, local governments, and hundreds of private sector partners" to bring "over 21,000 health and aging resources to seniors, caregivers, adults with disabilities and their families."
Nor would it be the Center on Aging at VCU, "a statewide agency created by the Virginia General Assembly" that for more than 30 years "has worked to protect and improve the quality of life of older Virginians, so that they might remain interdependent and contributing members to life in Virginia."
No, the Aging Czar would be something different -- another layer of bureaucracy whose purpose, presumably, would be to coordinate the efforts of the other effort-coordinating agencies.
The idea isn't new. When he ran for governor, Mark Warner proposed creating an aging secretariat in the governor's Cabinet.
Apparently, all the state's aging agencies are incapable of protecting senior citizens from political pandering.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
Government’s job is to grow more government.
It reminds me of the story of “catching wild pigs”:
A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, ‘Do you know how to catch wild pigs?‘
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. ‘You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat; you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.
Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc.. While we continually lose our freedoms—just a little at a time.
One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
God help you when the gate slams shut!
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have”
—-Thomas Jefferson
Post a Comment(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Flag Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Advertisement