Helping People Takes More Than Just Raising Taxes and Spending Money

Taxes are going up in Illinois tomorrow.  The gas tax is going up 18 cents a gallon, and there are probably other taxes going up, too.  Also, there will eventually be new taxes on things like marijuana and sports gambling.¹  I understand why taxes have to go up.  Illinois has spent more than it has raised in taxes for so long that the time has come to start paying up.  I am not sure, however, that enough of the tax increases is going toward the unpaid bills and funding the pension promises the legislators have been making for years.  Actually, I am sure.  Enough isn’t going for these things.  But that is not what I want to talk (spelled “r-a-n-t”) about today.  I want to talk about how the Illinois spends its money.

One of the problems with the politicians we have in Illinois is they seem to think that, once they have passed the programs and appropriated the money, their job is done.  They think that all they have to do is spend money and problems will be solved.  Which is just so far from being true.

There is a lot more to governing, at least to governing well, than just spending money.  Well-run governments, like well-run companies, make sure that when they spend money, they get what they paid for.  If a company buys a product, it makes sure that it receives the product, that the product works, and that the product actually does what it is supposed to do.  Government needs to do that, too.

But I don’t see the people in Springfield doing this.²  They don’t seem to understand that it is just as important, if not more important, to make sure the money is spent effectively as it is to appropriate the money in the first place.  They don’t understand that they need to make sure the agencies and programs they are giving money to are actually accomplishing what they are supposed to do. 

The proper way to run a government is to constantly check to see if agencies and programs are doing what they were set up to do.  If they aren’t, then the agency or the program needs to be fixed.  And if it can’t be fixed, it needs to be ended, and something new set up which can actually accomplish what needs to be done.  Because government is about getting results for the people that are supposed to be helped, not just feeling good about spending money.

The important point to emphasize here is that making sure government programs actually work, isn’t another way of justifying tax cuts or spending cuts.  It’s about making sure the people that are supposed to be helped are actually getting helped.  It’s also about helping the most people possible with the money you have to spend.  Because there are always more things that need to be done than there is money available.  Some people would say, in that situation, you should raise taxes so there is more money to spend.  I say, if you want to raise taxes, that’s fine.  But let’s make sure government agencies and programs are working the best they can to help the most people possible at whatever the level of taxes is. Because making sure government works effectively and efficiently is the way to help the most people and to help them the most.

That seems to be obvious to me.  But it is hard work, both for the legislature and the governor.  It is fun, and easy, to cut ribbons and spend money.  Reviewing how programs are working and determining if they are actually doing what they were set up to do is hard work.  And you are going to get people mad at you if you say a program isn’t working right or isn’t getting the job done.  But that is how you really help people.  And I don’t see that being done in Springfield.
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¹ I am not sure why sports gambling is a good idea.  The state lottery and casinos are already, in effect, a regressive tax on lower income people, because they tend to buy tickets and go to casinos more often.  Sports gambling will probably turn out to be just another tax that hits the poor more than the rich.  Here’s an idea: Instead of sports gambling, how about allowing gambling on who the next Illinois politician will be to be charged (or convicted) of corruption.  That could be fun.  (Just kidding; not about the fun, but about allowing it.)
² Per Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, “we have a very poorly managed state.”  But that point is so obvious, I shouldn’t have to link to anything to support it.