Opinion

Piling on government workers to score points

MARTY MOORE
Suncoast News Columnist
Published: June 28, 2012

Conservative pundits love taking cheap shots at the government by trotting out the indifference, ineptitude and impudence one occasionally encounters in dealing with public employees. Their selective reproach needs a reality check, beyond the fact that it is vastly clichéd.

Kvetching is an American birthright. I do it myself. But it's patently unfair to extrapolate from a perceived annoyance to condemn government in general, and by inference, Democrats, because obviously they're the ones who like big government and by implication must favor abysmal behavior at government agencies.

The next time a teabag decries some official hassle as anecdotal "evidence" to make a point about the superiority of the private sector, ask yourself when was the last time you heard a lefty citing the cable guy to malign capitalism?

For every inconvenience, inefficiency or frustration you suffer at the hands of some government procedure or officious factotum, I guarantee there is a private-sector counterpart.

Lines at the post office; lines at the grocery store. County permits processing; insurance claims processing. Airport security rigmarole; airline check-in rigmarole. Waiting for your tax refund; waiting for your test results. Medicaid red tape; warranty coverage red tape. For every Solyndra or Fast and Furious fiasco there's an Enron, AIG, BP or Progress Energy's Crystal River nuclear plant fiasco.

I have a feeling wandering around Walmart trying to find a salesclerk, or spending a half hour at the bank to cash a check, or sitting on a runway for hours doesn't leave people raving about the efficiently of private enterprise.

How about this? "Your business is very important to us; please continue to hold for the next available customer care specialist." Yeah, if my business is so damn important to you then hire some more damn "specialists" to answer your damn phones! I dread having to deal with these people, but it's never once occurred to me to correlate my lousy experiences with my populist economic leanings. And if I ever do, please check me into columnist rehab.

The reason conservatives take kvetching to transcendental levels is to belittle the whole idea of government. They would like nothing better than, in the words of Republican anarchist Grover Norquist, to reduce the size of government to where he can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.

Remember it wasn't the IRS, OSHA, EPA or the Department of Education that tanked the stock market and destroyed the economy in 2008. Government bureaucrats aren't the ones scrimping on mine and drilling platform safety, underfunding pensions, corrupting food and drug supplies, tainting the air and water and scamming Medicare.

You want shorter lines at the DMV. Pay more taxes.

Marty Moore is a freelance writer living in New Port Richey.