How much do you really?

How many times do your directly interact with the government, local, state, national? Of course if you work in the sector you are discounted, so really how much? We all interact vicariously; drive down roads built by government funding, notice a police car or fire truck passing by, and what else? There is a good deal of paying; gas tax, maybe the power bill if you are in PUD like we are, April 15 of each year, maybe a Stafford Loan payment, some others. Actually most of us do not interact directly with any government agency. Think about it, that is how involved the government is in your life, and you are in it.

Your employer interacts more particularly if it is regulated industry. Let's not get started on regulation. I have some strong prejudices here stemming from one event: I had a old New Deal lawyer in business law class way back in the day and he stated it quite well. "If People did not mis-behave there would be no need for regulators." The emphasis is mine, and his exact words are gone, but this was the gist of his remark. Makes sense does it not? The argument against is the government and therefore regulators over reach, trying to fix problems that do not exist, or the government is not the appropriate fixer of the problem. Other entities or forces of nature are better fixers of problems. Without more data I cannot judge if there are "other and better fixers of the democracy's problems." Well I do judge, but this is not the place.

Direct interaction with government will occur in your life if you, build a house, build a business, violate the law and get caught, get sued, or file for unemployment. You will interact indirectly with the government if you buy a fishing/hunting/boating/auto/truck license and each time the license renews. This is all local stuff. Your city, county, or state regulates these activities. Unless of course you violate a Federal Law, lie to a Federal officer, cheat on your taxes (and get caught). Then the wrath of (place whatever you want here) will come down upon you. Even for most businesses impact at the state and local level seems to be more profound than at the Federal level. Of course if a business operates interstate then Federal regs will impact the business, particularly the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. This is not the only one, but this is not a regulatory lawyers blog either. Back to the private citizen, we feel government at all levels when we pay taxes; sales tax in most states, property tax, in some others, local income tax (a few places), state income tax and federal income tax each pay period and on that infamous date in April.

So what is my point? I hear a good deal of commentary, as you do, about big government and too much regulation. The question most of us should then ask is "what are you talking about?" That question should be asked all the time of everyone who says it as my guess is they do not (know what they are talking about.) It is very easy to talk abstractly, with out supporting data, and use words like huge, massive, and enormous. Those words mean nothing without supporting data and all I want are facts, I will make my own call as should you. Finally if you think government is out of line, see which one it is. Feds, state, or local. I decided a long time ago, despite being a political science major, government service is no place to work. The pay is crappy, (yeh I know--everybody thinks otherwise) and you have to talk continuously to the 1% of the craziest of the population. You can lead, and make a difference at any level. Check out what citizen advisory boards, exist in your community, what productive input you provide and what are your interests. At the state level, communicate with your elected representatives (they should be living in your community) and ask what you can do. You may give up some time to make it work. Do not try to get out of Jury Duty. This is the purest and most direct way you can participate in the democracy, a fundamental right protected under the Constitution and demanded in the Declaration. Finally when you have direct interaction with the government; getting that building permit, applying for some license, or whatever be patient, do it right, and let the folks you are standing across the counter from do their job. As someone said this last week, think about whether or not you would want to do what they are doing?