Dreaming of Caracas on Little Traverse Bay?
Emmet Responsible Government (ERG) got mentioned several times during the public comment portion* of this past Monday night’s Emmet County Board of Commissioners meeting.
ERG was flattered. One lady even read one of our blog posts aloud. LOL.
But we are also puzzled.
The fact that Chair/Commissioner Rich Ginop has had ties to our grassroots group was a complaint that was oft repeated. So what? Some of the other commissioners on the Emmet board also have ties to civic, political, religious, and community groups (much more important and fancier than ours) that champion mass transit, affordable housing, sketchy grants, millages, vaccines, and limitless, irresponsible government. We didn’t hear any complaints from the audience about any of those affiliations.
Another redundant comment: Chair Ginop is supposed to represent “everybody,” not just like-minded constituents. That is impossible. We often disagree with the lone Democrat on the board and the partisan slant he projects, but we don’t expect him to represent ‘everybody’ when he votes the opposite of what we’d prefer. We get it. He won on a platform appealing to liberals. He does not ‘represent’ the conservatives in District 7, ideologically speaking. And he certainly didn’t ‘represent’ the pro-medical freedom viewpoint when he served on the Board of Health. So, how could he represent “everybody”?
Finally, why all the enthusiasm for a (redundant) nutrition grant (Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles Initiative) where a fraction of the money actually goes to the schools? The largesse goes to the HDNW and the Groundwork non-profit. That strikes us as administrative-centric, not fruit and vegetable centric.
Unfettered bureaucracy is what caused, in no small part, the fall of a once mighty South American nation. As one analyst has noted, “The bureaucracy in Venzuela is basically a layer, or some would argue, a class, of people which hinders productivity and efficiency and has a virtual monopoly on decision making, and resource allocation.”
Mistaking government for a charity or non-profit is a form of socialism. Straying from the proper role of government - to protect life, liberty, and property - can cause economic and moral collapse. It also diminshes the free market and personal responsibility. So, no thanks, to Caracas on Little Traverse Bay.
As for Rich Ginop, who had to endure a long night and still remained strong at the conclusion of it, bien hecho!
* Comments start at the 8:30 mark.
Note: Where the idea for this blog's headline comes from.