"Government Doesn't Suck" March

According to the Washington Post, a "Government Doesn't Suck" march is being planned for Saturday morning in Washington.  The organizer, Steve Ressler, says that, "It's time to turn the tables and remind the world that government employees just happen to be people -- people that don't suck."  Of course Steve has constructed a caricature of the conservative argument against a large public sector - namely, "we don't want a large public sector because public employees are lazy, sucky people."  The argument Steve defeats is ridiculous, and so he ends up looking like he knows what he's talking about.

Unfortunately for Steve, government really does suck.  It sucks capital out of the private sector and uses it to sustain itself.  Since the government doesn't actually create wealth or produce anything, the suction is one way.  It's fine for the government to tax citizens or companies just enough to provide them with services that they all want but can't efficiently provide for themselves (such as a military, interstate highways, etc), but allowing the government to grow to the point that it is a burden on the private sector only stifles the country and its economy. 

The money that pays each government employee could be used to pay a private sector employee, so cutting the size of government would not actually decrease the number of available jobs.  Private employees, unlike their public counterparts, actually produce things, so adding private employees to the economy would increase its output.  This increased output would enlarge the tax base, causing the government to bring in more revenue to use on the things that the people really want, such as infrastructure, defense, and paying down the debt.  The sooner the government turns off the suction on the vacuum, the sooner the country will get out of the economic mess that it is in.

(Don't) Rock the Vote

There are a lot of hot button issues out there - health care, gay marriage, taxes - but one thing we can all agree on is that everyone should go out and vote a week from tomorrow, right?  Wrong.  I hate campaigns aimed at achieving high voter turnout. 

Voting is seen as an inherently good thing in itself simply because it is a right of citizenship.  But rights also come with responsibilities, and the responsibility of the electorate is to be intelligent and informed.  Would you want to buy stock in a company whose board of directors was completely oblivious to market conditions and economic principals?  Then why would you want to live in a country whose direction was determined by a mass of people with no actual knowledge of the issues at hand?

All voting citizens should at least have some knowledge of current candidates, the current issues, and some of the economic principals behind the issues.  If you do have a working knowledge of these factors, then please do vote, and please encourage your informed friends to vote.  Also, go above and beyond and help other people to become informed.  We would be doing much better if voter registration drives were replaced by voter education drives.  On the other hand, if you plan on voting but can't describe the platforms of any of the candidates or can't defend your position on any of the issues, please stay home.  If you have any friends like that please tell them to stay home, too.