There is a certain political party that advocates for less government, and it’s often associated with less taxes. However, it pays to know what less government really means. One meaning is that agencies with regulatory or oversight duties do not get fully funded, or enforcement is gutted so they cannot properly do their jobs. The result is less enforcement of white collar crime, which happens in every Republican administration. The IRS does fewer audits, the SEC does fewer investigations, OSHA does fewer inspections, and the EPA prosecutes fewer violations of environmental laws. The result of less oversight was painfully obvious in the impeachment proceedings.
Another meaning is the privatization of agencies and functions of government. If Republicans cannot legislate privatization, they cut the agency’s budget until performance suffers, then criticize the agency and push for privatization or dissolution of it. Entities on the privatization hit list include cabinet departments, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, IRS, military, prisons, water supplies, the census and others. Social programs are cut even though they pay for themselves or pay dividends.
Republicans have been underfunding public land management agencies for decades in an effort to privatize them. They want to commercialize them and eventually sell them off to the highest bidders.
The LWCF bill is an election year exception. Sometimes underfunding an agency has dire consequences. The FAA has been underfunded for years. They let Boeing take over some inspection
duties on the 737 Max, and two accidents happened. The VA has been underfunded for decades. During this time thousands of veterans died waiting for medical care. Who is really responsible for the two airplane accidents, and all the veterans who died waiting for a doctor? This is just the tip of the iceberg.
For the rest of the story look up the Overthrow Project.
Jerry DiMarco
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 10/16/20