Politics is a major talking point in the blogosphere. There are plenty of threads about everything from taxes to outlawing zebras within city limits. Very often I enjoy the conversations, even the heated ones, because I learn a lot from them.
It is easy to dismiss me as a Republican, but it would not be fair. To be honest, I'm not sure where I fall into the political spectrum and am seriously considering turning independent as I don't believe the Republicans do much besides whatever it takes to get elected.
The one thing I am for that Republicans "say" they support but rarely do is less government. What Republicans seem to end up doing is creating smaller government which is something entirely different.
For example, here in Florida we get to enjoy Jeb Bush and his commitment to smaller government. One major push for Jeb during his election was the attempt to privatize the payroll system for the state.
...Since taking in office in 1999, Bush has pushed relentlessly to outsource state services to private companies to shrink the rolls of state employees.His biggest initiative: Turning over the state's personnel support services, including payroll, to a Cincinnati-based Convergys. But complaints about the "People First" system have multiplied in the past three months, as thousands of employees across the state have seen mistakes in their paychecks, vacation time and health insurance status, prompting multiple inquiries from lawmakers.Until last week, Bush and his staff have largely defended the system, noting any conversion serving 120,000 employees across 38 state agencies is bound to encounter technical problems. And they've trumpeted the fact the system, despite initial flaws, will save the state roughly $13-million annually.But last week Department of Management Services Secretary Bill Simon told a House Committee the state might want to consider firing Convergys if its record isn't dramatically improved in six months. On Tuesday, Bush seemed to be following suit.
...Since taking in office in 1999, Bush has pushed relentlessly to outsource state services to private companies to shrink the rolls of state employees.
His biggest initiative: Turning over the state's personnel support services, including payroll, to a Cincinnati-based Convergys. But complaints about the "People First" system have multiplied in the past three months, as thousands of employees across the state have seen mistakes in their paychecks, vacation time and health insurance status, prompting multiple inquiries from lawmakers.
Until last week, Bush and his staff have largely defended the system, noting any conversion serving 120,000 employees across 38 state agencies is bound to encounter technical problems. And they've trumpeted the fact the system, despite initial flaws, will save the state roughly $13-million annually.
But last week Department of Management Services Secretary Bill Simon told a House Committee the state might want to consider firing Convergys if its record isn't dramatically improved in six months. On Tuesday, Bush seemed to be following suit.
As both my father and my step-mother work for the state, I get to hear plenty of first hand issues with the "People First" initiative. The service sucks and apparently the money savings just isn't there. Even if the plan was financially successful, the so called "smaller government" just isn't there.
When I speak of wanting less government, that means I want less functions of the government, not simply fewer people doing the same work. I want less government involvement in the bedroom. I want less government regulations on smoking in restaurants. I want less government nosing around in my private financial affairs. One person doing three jobs isn't less government. One person doing one job and the other two simply disappearing is what I consider less
I simply believe that left alone, humans will do what suits them best. And I also believe that there is no problem so small that government involvement won't screw up. I'm not ultra-libertarian and think government should be abolished, but I think we rely too much on it as a society to continue to promote freedom. Granted, when you give out freedom, there will be those who suffer due to indifferences, but unfortunately that's the way life is. I think we as Americans are generous enough to provide for the unfortunate without having Uncle Sam force it out of us. So I'd prefer to have more freedom and less government, not just smaller.