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Jewish World Review Oct. 6, 2005 / 3 Tishrei, 5766 Giving New Orleans its freedom By John Stossel
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
When Hurricane Katrina struck, private citizens wanted to help,
but often the government got in the way. The doctors who wanted to heal
people in New Orleans, but were told to fill out tax forms instead,
experienced just one of many horror tales. Government seemed to have
declared a monopoly on helping people — but then its insane bureaucracy
made certain it did a lousy job helping.
Now some Republicans have taken a detour from their party's rush
to spend all your money by actually proposing that government help the
people in the hurricane zone by getting out of the way.
President Bush wants to create a "Gulf Opportunity Zone" with
reduced federal taxes across parts of three states. Now, if the president
really wanted to get Washington out of the way, he might ask Congress to
abolish personal and corporate income taxes there. What he's proposing is
less dramatic — but it's a start, and it's targeted to encourage investment
in equipment, which is likely to be a significant cost for those starting or
restarting businesses in an area where many assets have just been destroyed
by a terrible storm.
Other proposals and administration decisions include waiving all
Environmental Protection Agency regulations for the rebuilding, dropping
affirmative-action rules for government contractors, setting aside
restrictions on truck drivers' hours, and letting government money follow
children displaced by the storm to any school they choose. What a radical
idea! Government might actually let free people make their own choices.
Many politicians want Americans to believe that we can't do
anything individually without Washington's help. But Washington can't do
anything well. I'll pay you $100 if you can name one thing the government
does more efficiently than the private sector.
FEMA was only established in 1979, under President Carter. What
did Americans do before that? In 1871, when downtown Chicago was destroyed
in a fire, private charity came to the rescue. The Chicago Aid and Relief
Society coordinated assistance for a year and a half. According to the
Foundation for Economic Education, the charity workers strove to avoid
giving more than minimal food and clothing to those who could earn their own
way. They helped restart businesses, equipping medical offices, stocking
stores, and buying sewing machines. Government mainly stuck to keeping
order.
Yet now, after Katrina led government to once again demonstrate
its incompetence, politicians demand government rebuild New Orleans? The
most remarkable thing about the president's proposal is his recognition of
the obvious fact: "It is entrepreneurship that creates jobs and
opportunity."
Why can't we have a little experiment? Suspend labor laws and
licensing laws, reduce taxes and establish school vouchers in one small
place. If it is a bad idea, as the unions and lovers of big government
contend, that will be clear soon enough. I suspect they really fear success:
Schools will improve, business will recover, and a thousand ideas will bloom.
Then everyone hemmed in by bureaucracy's suffocating rules will want
Louisiana's freedom, too.
The president has already suspended the "prevailing wage law" in
areas affected by Katrina. The screaming! Union bosses accused the president
of pushing an "antiworker agenda" that will deny people "fair wages."
Nonsense. We never needed a law to force employers to pay prevailing wages.
If a wage is "prevailing," it will just happen; if it's unfair, no one will
take it.
The current "prevailing wage" law requires businesses carrying
out government contracts to pay a wage set, not by supply and demand, but by
collusion between unions and politicians who are eager keep their
constituents happy. They make sure the wage is high even for unskilled work.
In real life, of course, this strangles opportunity. Employers want to get
as much productivity for their dollar as the law allows, so they hire only
the most experienced workers. If you are a young beginner who wants to help,
and learn, "prevailing wage" laws mean you're out of luck.
With those rules suspended, an unemployed flood victim may
actually get a job on a federal project. New Orleans has a long history of
poverty, and Katrina made the problem worse. Fewer stupid rules would help.
It's time to give New Orleans an emergency dose of freedom.
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© 2005, by JFS Productions, Inc. Distributed by Creators Syndicate, Inc. |
Mitch Albom | ||||||||||||
