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Friday, January 25, 2019

Decentralization Is The Solution To The Government Shutdown Problem

The partial shutdown with the federal government has helped, perhaps more than any other recent political event, to illustrate some of the biggest problems that come with centralizing an ever-larger number of government activities within a single, centralized institution.

Were the US government more decentralized, we'd not now be facing a nationwide systemic failure that has continues to cripple the private sector in many ways.
Held Hostage by a Shuttered Regulatory State

The federalization of resources and regulatory power over the past century has created a situation in which numerous industries depend on licensing and regulatory approval from federal regulators to function. And yet, thanks to the shutdown, these industries can do little when facing a federal government that imposes mandates, but won't provide the agency "services" necessary to allow agencies to function under those mandates.

For example, As The Washington Post has reported , those areas where the federal government has a large regulatory footprint — such as Alaska — are at the mercy of politicians thousands of miles away.

Most (61 percent) of Alaska is government land managed by five different federal agencies, according to the congressional Research Service. The state’s main industries, including fishing, tourism and oil and gas, all depend on the day-to-day actions of federal workers and regulators.

The fisheries have so far avoided major disruption, despite a few close calls. Most boats are still getting by on licenses and inspections which occurred before the shutdown.

But time is running out. Major commercial boats are required to carry onboard observers to monitor their catch. But when they return from a trip, those observers must be debriefed by the National Marine Fisheries Service — and it’s not holding debriefings during the shutdown.

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4 comments:

Steve said...

Wonder if the writer read his own article and sees how stupid it is. So, a fisherman won't be able to take his boat out without a government babysitter? Really? I'm pretty sure those guys are happy to go fishing anyway, license or not. Do the fish check licenses before boarding the fishing boats? Maybe not? Oh, the horror, LOL!

Anonymous said...

CONgress is the problem, not centralization.

TERM LIMITS!

Anonymous said...

Decentralization leads to privatization which leads to corruption. When public programs are run for profit the needs of the people are not the top priority.

Anonymous said...

Logical solution is a Constitutional amendment which eliminates the stipulation Politians will get paid automatically paid. That should be in a bill to be voted on in the budget. As it is they get paid from the time they are sworn in until they are voted out whether they do anything are not.