To Shrink Government, Elected Officials Need to Start Thinking Private

Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin today announced $2.5 million in federal funding for West Virginia University (WVU) Research Corporation to manage and operate the Office of Disability Employment Policy’s (ODEP) Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a national technical assistance center that facilitates the employment and retention of workers with disabilities.

 In Washingtonspeak, $2.5 million is almost nothing.  It is the spare change that the rest of us often lose in the course of a week in the cushions of our couch.  But a few pennies here, a few pennies there add up.  A concerted effort to keep and save those pennies over time can make a real difference.

Getting the disabled back to work is actually a pretty worth endeavor.  If we are going to spend taxpayer money, this is an investment that, at least on paper, should save the government money in the long run.  Save, that is, if the money is spent properly and judiciously with an eye on benefiting the disabled and not employing bureaucrats.

Sadly, government repeatedly proves that good intentions do not last long in bureaucracy.  Since they are spending other people's money, suddenly lavish conferences, nepotism, and big salaries are the order of the day.  The point of the spending, whether it is extension of a subway line or trying to help underprivileged youth, often gets lost.  This is not to say that this will happen at WVU, but the public sector has proven time and time again to not be a good steward of money.

So it is good that our senators scored some funding that should have some benefit, but could their efforts and position have produced better results?  Successful and long standing non-profit organizations that have a track record of service are much more likely to use the funds wisely.  Even better, the clout of the two senators could be put to use in promoting the private fundraising of an effective organization, preventing the dispersion of federal funds entirely.

Government is too big and too expensive.  We have to get away from the knee-jerk thought of turning first to the public sector to support worthy ideas.  Getting outside of convention and considering private and non-profit alternatives will help to slowly shrink the size of, and our dependence on, government.