Washington’s Sequester Hysteria Obscures A More Tragic Unseen

By John Tamny

This Friday marks the day that automatic federal spending cuts will take place thanks to an incompetent political class willfully blind to constitutional limits. Though reductions on the order of $86 billion are truly microscopic, politicians and their media enablers are predictably predicting economic Armageddon thanks to a tiny cut in planned spending increases.

As USA Today put it on Monday, “Coming soon, the lines at airport security might get longer, the hours of service [horrors!] at Head Start centers might get shorter and the FBI might have fewer agents tracking down bad guys.” Fearful of “fewer teachers, reduced medical care, idle defense workers and other job-killing reductions in all 50 states,” our economically obtuse President in Barack Obama has naively asserted that “The longer these cuts are in place, the bigger the economic impact will become.”

First, let’s all relax. If we ignore that even under the sequester that federal spending is expected to soar to $5.9 trillion annually over the next ten years, the hysteria is wildly overdone.

Indeed, lost in all this talk if the economic burden that is our federal government is even slightly restrained is what it means for all of us who shoulder the aforementioned burden. Put plainly, can any reader honestly say he or she doesn’t have better things to do with the income our federal minders take from us in order to run the favor factory that Washington has become? Might we have paid off loans, purchased for our basic needs, and possibly invested our disposable income in profit-disciplined companies that actually have a clue about productivity?

As for the false argument along the lines of “Who cares, China is paying for our waste,” have we ever considered the tautological reality that absent all this nosebleed spending, that those dollars spent by foreigners on U.S. Treasuries would still cycle back to the U.S. (to save dollars is to lend them); only to businesses in need of loans and investments? Unseen amid all the federal jobs and programs supported by all of us (yes, the federal government is “WE”), are the companies that never form thanks to a lack of plentiful capital, not to mention those that can’t continue operating thanks to the feds vacuuming up so much credit for consumption over real investment. Unseen, in short, are the Microsofts, Intels, and Googles whose productivity enhancements would enrich us, and also employ us.

Taking this further, many on the right regularly talk about dependency – on food stamps, unemployment benefits and welfare – wrought by heavy federal spending. They have a point here, and unseen is the pride-enhancing work success that Leviathan takes from those who choose government handouts over economy-boosting work. The seen here is people doing little to nothing, while the unseen is the real work they would be doing if the need to survive and feed one’s family forced the unproductive to find jobs. If the feds were taxing and spending less, private sector companies would have access to more funds to expand and create real employment the markets actually desire.

Of course too many on the right ignore the other sick-making dependency that is all too apparent to anyone living in Washington, D.C. The capital’s suburbs are full of some of the highest average incomes in the U.S. Sorry, but dependency on government isn’t just the property of the poor; rather it’s arguably bigger among middle and upper middle class earners fully reliant on a bloated federal budget.

Unseen here is what these arguably talented individuals would be doing if they too weren’t taking part in the false enjoyment that is near permanent federal employment. If laboring under the frequent stress that defines always uncertain private sector employment, there’s no telling what today’s federal salary takers might be achieving. The seen is the comfortable lives of Washington bureaucrats, but the unseen concerns what they might be doing in a more dynamic world marked by success and failure. We hear about jobs that will be lost should federal spending decline, but we never hear about the jobs never created thanks to all the spending; the latter robbing individuals of the success and dignity that comes from working in a profit-motivated private sector.

What this tells us is that the political class must grow up. For the left who think any reduction of the myriad federal programs is tantamount to cruelty, they must ask themselves if it’s not exponentially more cruel for the federal government to addict the unsuspecting to handouts that are barriers to the realization of the potential that exists within us all.

As for the right, it’s no longer credible as so many conservatives claim that minor cuts in our defense budget ensure much greater weakness in same such that defense costs will soar down the line. Instead, the right need to soul search, all the while asking themselves if our national defense is truly enhanced by military bases in 175 countries around the world whereby we pay for the defense of some of the richest countries in the world. It’s quite simply not realistic that all of this largesse makes us safer, and then with dependency in mind, it’s hypocritical for the right to addict so many able-bodied to a federal paycheck that ultimately robs them of their ability to make the most of their lives.

Back to the looming sequester, it’s surely embarrassing that we’re led by political types so deluded with their importance that they think we can’t survive absent their dollars. Lost on them, and sadly by too many of us, is that those dollars are ours. In that case we must learn to love a sequester that has the living, breathing definition of dependency – Washington, D.C. – so on edge. Indeed, it’s time for us all to get to know the beautiful unseen that would reveal itself amid a reduction in the certain austerity that is big government.

Because of a bill, HB 1313, that came to the floor of the Statehouse your efforts to fight crime, vandalism, trash and dangerous properties is threatened.

This bill says that after February 28 no local government can enact legislation that deals with these in relations of landlords and tenants to the City. Specifically, HB 1313 says:

Sec. 4. (a) As used in this 4 section, “regulation” refers to an ordinance, rule, or other enactment by a political subdivision relating to any of the following:

(1) Landlord and tenant relations.

(2) Rental agreements.

(3) Real property subject to a rental agreement.

(b) A regulation that does any of the following may not be adopted after February 28, 2013:

(1) Requires an owner or landlord to be licensed or to obtain a permit from the political subdivision to lease a rental unit.

(2) Requires an owner or landlord to enroll or participate in a class or government program as a condition for leasing a rental unit.

(3) Imposes a fee or other assessment for any of the following:

(A) Inspection of a rental unit.

(B) Registration of an owner, landlord, or rental unit.

(C) Any other purpose. However, this clause does not prohibit imposition of a fee relating to the construction of rental unit, such as a building permit fee.

This section expires July 1, 2014.

This moratorium is on until next year. In the meantime, there will be a summer study committee to look into the issue.

And, what is the issue? One city up north went wild and decided to partially fund their general fund from exorbitant fees charged landlords for inspections! It is reported they are charging $100 per unit.

This is not what the City of Evansville and the Evansville Police Department has in mind or is doing with the ordinance in front of you.

Please fight for our neighborhoods. This program is about knowing who can make decisions to clean up a property or remove an abandoned vehicle or a evict meth dealer. Make no mistake. The good actors will cry out for they are doing everything right. Thank them. But, ask them, what would they do in your position.

Yours truly,

Gail Riecken,
State Representative, D 77

FLANDERS, a privately owned, third-generation manufacturer of motors, power systems, and automation solutions, is giving back to the Evansville community by sponsoring a leadership seminar for employees and partners of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation.

The seminar features leadership strategies created by The John Maxwell Company, a company that FLANDERS has collaborated with for years to promote leadership development training internally. FLANDERS cares for its employees and the community and routinely offers development opportunities that help cultivate great leaders.

FLANDERS’ passion for the community led to a natural fit when partnering with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation to develop its leadership in a two-hour presentation on February 27 titled “The Five Levels of Leadership.” International speaker Chris Fuller will be presenting the seminar which is based on an award-winning book by John Maxwell.

The presentation will be an interactive workshop that encourages individuals to reflect on what kind of a leader they are and how they might improve as a leader.

The five levels of leadership include:

1. Position – People follow because they have to.

2. Permission – People follow because they want to.

3. Production – People follow because of what you have done for the organization.

4. Personal Development – People follow because of what you have done for them personally.

5. Pinnacle – People follow because of who you are and what you represent.

Through in-depth explanations and examples, Fuller will describe each stage and demonstrate to those at the conference how they can move to the next level to become more influential, respected, and successful.

Fuller is an international leadership speaker, author, and consultant with experience in many aspects of business including leadership development, sales, strategy, and finance. He is President and CEO of Influence Leadership, Inc., a company focused on serving businesses and business leaders through the development and strategic growth of their people. Most notably, Fuller is the world’s leading facilitator and course developer of John Maxwell’s content.

The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation has invited its school board, executive leadership team, principals, athletic directors, up-and-coming leaders in the corporation, and community partners that work directly with the school corporation on behalf of students and parents.

“The EVSC wishes to thank FLANDERS for providing this generous opportunity for our leaders who impact more than 23,000 students and their families every day,” said Superintendent David Smith. “While our leaders do a tremendous job every day with the multitude of complex decisions that must be made, we welcome the opportunity to learn more about developing our leadership skills as we strive to be better communicators and leaders in this changing educational landscape.”

Teens, Realtors & Vectren Join Clean Evansville Trash Pick-up Volunteers will focus on South Green River Road Corridor
More than 100 people will join Mayor Lloyd Winnecke picking-up litter Saturday, March 2, from 9 to 11 a.m. along the South Green River Road corridor and around Harrison High School. The group will include more than 40 volunteers from Youth Resources’ Teen Advisory Council, 21 from F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors, 18 from ERA First Advantage and 25 volunteers from Vectren.
Volunteers will be divided into six clean teams. Team 1, led by Mayor Winnecke, will start near Washington Avenue and Green River Road and work east toward Royal Avenue. Team 2 will start near Harrison High School south parking lot and focus on areas along Fielding Road and Cullen Avenue. Team 3 will start near Green River Road and the Lloyd Expressway and works south toward Lincoln Avenue. Team 4 will start near Washington Avenue and Green River Road and work north toward Bellemeade Avenue. Team 5 will start near the Lloyd Expressway and Burkhardt Road and work south toward Lincoln. Team 6 will start near Lincoln and Burkhardt and work south toward Washington Avenue.
Volunteers gather at the parking lot in front of Washington Square Mall, at the corner of Green River Road and Washington Avenue, around 10:30 for the wrap-up ceremony. Following the a few remarks from the Mayor, the trash collected will be hauled to the landfill by Republic Services.
Volunteers are now being recruited for a city-wide clean-up on Saturday, April 6, which will be in conjunction with the annual Keep America Beautiful Great American Clean-up. Anyone interested in joining a team or forming their own team should call Mike McGarrah at Keep Evansville Beautiful at 425-4461.

The City of Evansville will host the last in a series of three public road meetings Friday, March 1, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 1301 S. Green River Road, to share information about 2013 road paving projects and to receive comments from local residents. Mayor Lloyd Winnecke will open the meeting with a brief introduction, and City Engineer Pat Keepes will present a PowerPoint presentation followed by a question and answer session. Residents who cannot attend the meeting may submit suggestions to the City Engineer’s office at 436-4990.