Editorial: Union Could Be Healthier If Government Were Efficient

In light of President Bush’s State of the Union address, it may be a bit much to say that our government is broken, but it is no stretch to say that it is so large as to be virtually dysfunctional in many areas. When we consider a whole gamut of issues, we think it’s a fair conclusion.

President Bush said $85 billion had been (or is being) directed to hurricane recovery on the Gulf Coast. At the same time, the government is going to spend $8 billion to restore a Florida swamp. Yet, we know that the amount sought to maintain and modernize our Upper Mississippi River system is under $3 billion and we continue to bicker over it.

It is only fair to say, however, that indications were before Katrina and perhaps still, that Congress seemed inclined to pass a water resources development act. Efforts are being made to introduce it early. Industry leaders express optimism over its chances.

As to the importance of the Upper Mississippi, however, Worth Hager, president of the National Waterways Conference, reminds us that during a meeting of the Transportation Research Board last week, “railroad officials blanched when learning of the state of the Upper Mississippi system locks and dams.

“They acknowledged,” TRB officials said, “that railroads are unable to carry the loads ferried by barges on the Upper Mississippi system. If our lock and dam system fails because of lack of investment, the ripple effect would be felt for years—not just a loss of farm income and potential blackouts, but also a blow to the bright spot in America’s balance of trade—our agricultural exports.”

But back to the Gulf. Newhouse News Service reports that tiers of contractors are ripping off reconstruction money. Our observers on the Gulf have the same impression. Everywhere hands are out.

Who will get paid for damaged property is a question for many people. One talk-show host reported that the average payment to a person who lost a family member in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks is $1,185,000. It ranges from $250,000 up to $4.7 million. It was pointed out that the families of our servicemen in the Middle East have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. In the meantime, Congress voted themselves another raise, and upon retirement each is entitled to $15,000 per month for life. Where are the priorities? They are evident.

Another senseless exercise is the Coast Guard’s February 28 deadline for license renewal. Supposedly an extension to help rivermen inconvenienced by hurricane damage, the extension is not nearly long enough and industry says the deadline cannot be met. Not only is the extension too short, but on January 13 the Coast Guard came out with an interim rule requiring that each license applicant appear in person at regional exam centers (RECs) with two forms of identification acceptable to the Coast Guard. One must have a photo of the applicant. Driver’s licenses and birth certificates seem to be in vogue. Applicants must also be fingerprinted again and submit to a criminal background check. How much sense does it make to put such an obstacle in the path of rivermen who may well have been hurricane victims? It would seem sensible to extend for a year and keep the system working so that it can aid in recovery.

But there’s more. In a senseless exercise over pallid sturgeon, environmental law mandates that manmade rises be orchestrated on the Missouri River. The topper is that federal flood insurance will not be available to farmers whose crops may be destroyed by this government-forced rise in the river. No one knows if it will help the sturgeon.

We pay millions of dollars for white sand to be placed on coastal beaches to make them more pleasant. But we argue over the cost of replacing outmoded Mississippi River locks that are contributing to delays in the transportation system.

In the meantime, back to New Orleans. Televised reports reveal that homes are being regularly looted and that no law enforcement patrols are present. We hear complaints that the city will lose most of its black population, but no one knows how many people who left New Orleans, regardless of race, will return. There is major controversy over the demolition of homes. It’s a mess.

From the few days after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, it became apparent that the left hand of government did not know what the right hand was doing. Unfortunately, in a day when computer technology has surpassed the ability of the average human to keep up with it, it is a monumental struggle to meet the needs.

While they like to think so, neither of the major political parties is equipped, nor could they have been, to face such devastating tragedy. It is not fair to blame President Bush or any other individual for this failure. Our government is too cumbersome to function efficiently. We throw big money at problems and solve few of them. Billions are being spent on the Big Dig in Massachusetts and Sen. Robert Byrd continues to build multimillion highways to nowhere in West Virginia. Our government is at a loss to know how to make hurricane recovery work. There are too many cooks, and they spoil the broth. A good ranch owner tells his foreman to get a job done, and he lets him do it.

There is no simple way to do anything anymore. Even simple problems are made complicated. To repeat a true story we reported a few years back:

A tiny South Dakota town wanted to put in a small football field and some simple bleachers. They were told the feds would help pay for it. But plans for the tiny field and simple bleachers turned into an expensive monster. They finally turned down federal help. A few men got together with their construction equipment and within a few days the field was completed and the bleachers were filled with cheering fans. Perhaps we need more folks from the Midwest in Washington.

President Bush said he wants to cut more than 150 federal programs that are failing or not performing as well as they should. That’s good. We do need to trim waste. We also need to make solving problems less complicated. We need to eliminate procedures that make government dysfunctional.

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