Tim Urling, PCO # 16
Most of us are probably recovering from the shock of receiving our property tax notices and the enormous increase. I have to wonder where is all the money going and why so much. But after taking a moment to analyze how expensive our government is, it’s not so hard to see why.
For example, nearly every program the city of Idaho Falls offers as entertainment or services operates in the red, and the taxpayer subsidizes the difference. The pool, the zoo, the soccer complex, the golf courses, the ice rink, etc., all receive tax money. They are never allowed to go bankrupt or worry about free market forces or economic woes. In February of 2021, I had hoped we had seen the last of public transportation when TRPTA was dissolved but not hardly. Less than a year later we have Greater Idaho Falls Transit. Brand new expensive buses drive around Idaho Falls largely empty at $3 a ride. You the taxpayer make up the difference. $4.2 million in taxes subsidized GIFT in this year alone. Private businesses must compete and operate at a profit but not socialist programs. Government is not productive. It has no wealth of its own. All it acquires it must take from the private sector. The city doesn’t have an accounting or budget problem. It has a spending problem.
2022 is not ending well. The number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck has risen to 63%, and even more cannot afford a $400 emergency. It’s no surprise that District 91 taxpayers rejected a massive $250 million school bond as inflation and interest rates are at record highs. The idea we can tax and borrow our way to prosperity is not working after all.
“We believe the protection of individual rights is upheld when personal responsibility is exercised.” I think this Idaho Republican Party Platform would solve a lot of our problems if followed. I really believe government is supposed to be a negative force that leaves us alone and keeps us free.
Instead, most believe government is supposed to be a positive force that does things for us and takes care of us from birth to death. I think there is too much confidence in government as the cure for everything. Many voices shout climate crisis but regardless of one’s opinion, does anyone believe bureaucrats and scientists on the public payroll are capable of developing a workable plan? Or as the so-called pandemic of 2020 taught us, a jump to government overreach, without thoughtful planning, can result in unnecessary hardships and increased risk. I’ve seen how government programs work, and it is difficult to find examples of success.
In the spirit of Christmas, I suggest we give unnecessary programs and dysfunctional representatives the Santa’s boot and give our community the gift of wise representatives that are fiscally responsible. Let us each be wise men (and women) who are not hypnotized by the call of season sales just so we can put something shiny (and of little value) under our community tree.
Tim Urling is the Precinct 16 committee officer in the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee.