"Let the people keep more of their money and let them decide
how to spend it." (a paraphrase, but the meaning is the same)
Inspection programs are the first to loose funding when the economy falters, and
there is a tax cut.
Whenever times get economically tough or there is an election going on politicians will all tell you that
they're going to stop that wasteful government spending. If elected, they will try to find some way to
live up to that promise, and since the largest continuing expense for any government entity and most
business entities is personnel, the obvious course of action is to drop some folks off the payroll. The
usual result is an increase in workload for the employees who were lucky enough to survive the
"cutbacks".
In government, local, state, or national, some of the first people to go are those people who are
responsible for enforcement of codes. They are called inspectors. Their job is to examine places and
processes where a mishap could effect the safety of the citizens of that area under their jurisdiction.
These folks inspect food processing plants, restaurants, stockyards, manufacturing sites, and a
whole lot more. When food poisoning cases increase the media wants to know why the inspectors
missed it. When a bridge collapses from deterioration the media always wants to know when it was
last inspected. When there is a major oil release disaster in the Gulf of Mexico we want to know how
it could have happened if all safety procedures were in place and operating, and which inspector
signed off on the safety inspection, and how long ago.
As inspectors experience increased workloads they sometimes tend to be less thorough in their
inspections, and the inspections less frequent for individual facilities. They are now having to
inspect and file reports on more facilities each day, and the people who read those reports have to
read more of them each day and decide on what actions to take.
The system heats up. Mistakes are made. Inspection reports may be faked to try to meet the
demands from above. An individual inspector may hesitate to go to a supervisor to complain about
the workload, because of the suspicion it will be a mark against him in the supervisor's mind. The
years of employment invested, the possible loss of income, the possible loss of retirement, the
possible loss of health insurance for the inspector's family, all contribute to the reluctance to
complain, and the desire to please the boss. "If you cant do it I'll have to find somebody who can."
The bridge that collapses does so from the natural deterioration of materials. Bridges are expensive
to maintain and replace. Keeping them requires taxes to pay the costs of materials and labor,
including administration of the job and periodic inspections to find where repairs need to be made.
The same can be said for roads, ditches, causeways, levies, traffic signals, safe food, safe buildings,
safe electrical distribution, safe sewage disposal, safe public transportation, safe movement of goods
and services and hazardous materials.
The Federal Government means a heck of a lot more than a military, and state governments mean a lot
more than a state patrols and a National Guard contingents. Unfortunately, most tax payers think only
of what's left in their wallets and ignore the pavement, traffic lights, schools, sewer systems, water
systems, law enforcement equipment and salaries, etc., that their tax dollars are paying for.
At least, they don't think much about where the taxes are being spent until their car is damaged by a
pot hole in front of their house, or the crime rate goes up in their neighborhood, or there is a massive
oil leak polluting the Gulf of Mexico. Folks seem to want the goods, services, and facilities that are
safe and convenient, but they want to whine about paying for it. Sometimes it's embarrassing to be a
member of the public.
In my personal opinion, which is probably worth little, it would be more appropriate to pay careful
attention to how tax dollars are being spent and less attention cutting taxes. Tax money spent to
make our civilization safer, reduce suffering, and increase comfort and efficiency is money well spent.
Unfortunately, much of our tax money winds up by some complex and circuitous route in the pockets
of the federal, state, and local officials we have elected to wisely decide how the tax money is being
spent. We have hired foxes to guard our hen house. Those same foxes are promising us to reduce
taxes in order to trick us into using our votes to keep them in office. That's something to be angry
about. RCC