Let’s run government like a business

For many decades, there have government critics who think government would be better if it were run like a business.  Be careful what you ask for; you might get it.

If government were run like a business, then the president (or governor) would be approved every year by the Senate.  This approval would be almost automatic every three years. The President would hold his position until he retires, quits, or is fired by the Senate.  If  the Senate fires him, there would be few if any hearings

The President would appoint new members to the board as previous members quit or die.

Every year, the voters would get to approve a third of the current members of the board.   They would have two choices: for or abstain.

Rather than have a variety of public services available to all citizens, there would be fees for every service.

You want to get mail, you would have to pay an annual fee or by piece each day.

You want to drive somewhere, you would have to pay an annual fee to each jurisdiction you drive in or pay a toll each time you drive in a certain jurisdiction.

You want to have a quick response if you have a medical emergency, a fire, or a robbery, you would have to pay an annual fee to each entity or pay before you get the help.

And on and on it goes to where we might have to put coins in our refrigerator to open it.

None of us really likes to pay taxes, but without taxes our lives would be chaos.  Supposedly, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said, “I like taxes, they buy me civilization.”  And he was a Republican!!

Quote of the day: Populists can't look forward

“Populists can’t talk about the future, only the past”
- Timothy Snyder
Heard on https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=438&artikel=7229514

Sorry, I can't make the link work properly.

He speaks in English.  Interviewer's comments are in Swedish.

Some of his books are:
On tyranny : twenty lessons from the twentieth century 
The road to unfreedom : Russia, Europe, America.  This book was the subject of his interview (he spoke English).

Bloodlands : Europe between Hitler and Stalin

These are available in the Duluth Public Library.