It is almost a natural reflex in today’s mixed up, backwards
world of politics to turn to the government to “fix” things in our society.
Whether it’s; obesity, speeding, freak accidents, bad behavior, or a reaction
to any headline the media decides to put front and center. A man jumps off a
bridge, lower the bridge. A woman leaves a dog in a car with the windows down,
remove windows from cars. People flush 5 gallons of water down the toilet, make
toilets 3 gallons. The underlying question is why Americans reflexively turn to
the government to “fix” things?
Any casual review of the results of government programs will
tell you; government is incompetent at best, evil at worst. Take the issue of
Obama phones. To be fair to this president, the program that has become the
Obama phone program was started long ago to bring basic service to the poor so
they could have a basic line in case of emergency. It was a program of good
intentions which is common with every government program, but the results?
Fraud and abuse is the result.
Since the program was expanded to include cell phones in
2008, the costs have gone from $822 million to $2.2 billion. This well intentioned
program is now being completely abused. But why would we be surprised? Look at
Detroit, Camden, Newark, Chicago, NY, and many other places across the country
that are littered with government programs intended to help the people it is
destroying. Section 8 housing, food stamps, welfare, public education, Medicaid,
and on and on. These programs have spread misery, poverty, and ignorance in the
communities they are intended to help. So why would giving “free” cell phones
be any different? Actually, why would any government program produce different
results?
The Obama phones that this reporter was able to accumulate
without even lying about his status shows the potential abuse of every
government program. So why do we keep asking the government to get involved in
matters that are best left for individuals, local communities, churches, and civic
groups to fix? Is it just a reflex? Or is it that people just don’t know where
else to turn? I think if we can figure out these questions we can begin to
really fix our issues as a country.
This reporter received 3 Obama phones which he wasn’t even
eligible to have. The reason was that the federal government promises to pay private
carriers for every phone they give out under the program. Do you see a problem
with that incentive? Why didn’t the federal government?
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