RALEIGH – Incumbent lawmakers, regardless of party or position, have a favorite slogan for this stage in a political campaign: “Re-elect me, or else our district will lose its pull.”
I detest this argument, and seriously consider its utterance as a reason to vote for the challenger, any challenger, as long as he or she is not an evident crook, demagogue, or economic illiterate (advocacy of protectionism or “living wage” laws is an automatic disqualifier, naturally). I’d rather be represented by a backbencher with principle than by a footpad with “pull.”
Perhaps the most-objectionable reason offered to return an incumbent to office is a promise to “bring money back home.” It represents a repudiation of fiscal responsibility and a poverty of imagination.
If election officials agree that much government spending is wasted – be it federal or state – and then vow, smiling conspiratorially, to get “our fair share” anyway, they are helping to perpetuate a costly fraud. The relative pittance that a “powerful” member of Congress or the General Assembly can deliver to a local district pales in significance when compared to the cost of extracting taxes from the district, shipping the money to a capital city, skimming off shipping and handling charges (the political class gets paid first), and then sending the money back denominated in giant novelty checks.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. But he does not reside in Raleigh or Washington. There is nothing magical or wonderful about government pork. When politicians announce their masterful finagling of the system to secure a local grant, taxpayers should respond with scorn, not celebration.
The funding system is rigged to make virtually everyone poorer, give virtually everyone the impression that they are getting a little richer, and leave virtually everyone with the sneaking suspicion that everyone else is getting a lot richer – and it’s all because the local representative doesn’t yet have enough seniority! How convenient.
Representative government is better than the alternative. It makes sense to apportion legislative power among politicians who are elected from specific geographical constituencies, so as to ensure that a wide variety of talents, experiences, and viewpoints is rolled into the policymaking process.
But representative government should not devolve into a system of regional sales reps, each one peddling his supposed legislative influence to dangerously uninformed voters as if selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Which, come to think of it, is an apt metaphor for what most lawmakers do – suck the money out of your pockets, purses, and couches, all the while telling you what a great bargain you’re getting.
(Strike the last 20 words of the previous sentence for, as Captain Spock might put it, another colorful metaphor.)
At this point, my cynical readers are probably waving my argument away dismissively. Idealistic nonsense – the system is what it is, let’s just get at least our share.
No. The system is what it is because we allow it to be. We have the power to send our lawmakers a message: that we want governmental leaders to start leading, to start addressing major public problems with concerted, thoughtful action. Balance the budget without more taxes. Reform the tax code. Reform Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other fast-growing entitlements that threaten our fiscal future. Expand choice and innovation in education. Defeat Islamic totalitarianism. Redirect our transportation dollars to alleviate congestion and get America moving again. Combat the crime, disorder, and social decay that continue to inhibit progress in our inner cities. Defend our constitutional rights against their enemies, foreign and domestic. Restore freedom of speech and property-rights protection.
Once significant progress is evident on these key priorities, maybe we’ll be willing to watch a few press conferences at which you announce your latest teapot-spout-to-nowhere. Until then, save your breath and save our money.
Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation