Comments about ‘Utah government and roach motels’

This is exactly why government needs to be limited. This is why true conservatives call for lower taxes. Because this happens all over the nation. In local, state and federal government positions. The government wastes money. It doesn't have to show a "profit" for their work. Profit doesn't have to mean money, profit could mean they are making an impact. Just ask the residents of Haiti if the government is getting anything done with all the money they have gotten.

Excellent analogy John. That is why legislatures and congress should require all legislation that spends taxpayer money to have a sunset clause ending it in 5 years, unless continuing it can be justified and then re-approved.

"Washington D.C. abounds with roaches and government agencies. While working there, I had to live with both of them. Just like roaches check in, but never get out, government agencies have money that goes in, but never gets out."

Why didn't Mr. Florez mention politicians who check in, but never get out, like his boss (or is it former boss?), Orrin Hatch. The irony is too delicious, and the metaphor too close to home, I guess.

There is a way to kill most of those roaches. It's sometimes called democracy. It doesn't have to be a perfect democracy, the main thing is that control of our government should be in the hands of a majority of individual human beings.

It we stop allowing private groups, business, unions, churches, associations, clubs and the like, to interfere and influence our government, we could get by with a lot less government and instead of it just being smaller, it would be better.

Currently the only legislation, laws and regulations enacted by our government is at the behest of someone or some group who can profit from it. The reason politicians spend billions of dollars to get elected to a job that pays peanuts, is the profit that can made by control of business markets.

In our system administrators of Utah State departments end up being regulated by the business interests they are supposed to regulate. At the Industrial Commission where Florez was a commissioner he must have observed that if a commissioner actually tried to enforce the Utah Labor Code, we served but one term, whereas if a commissioner was a lap dog for business interests, e.g. Workers Compensation Insurance, they would serve multiple terms. Florez' write-up is infantile nonsense.

The answer is called "Zero Based Budgeting."

Instead of taking last year's budget and automatically spending the same amount on every program (except where politicians want to add new programs and spend more on others), we need to demand that every expenditure be justified. If a program exists, then show us that it is actually getting the intended results, not just spending its budget.

While it may be impractical to review every department or agency every year, there should be at least a 2, 3, 4 or 5 year cycle of reviews.

The assumption must be that the program is not needed and will be ended immediately. Essential (repeatr essential, not merely "traditional") functions must have qunatifiable benefits to the taxpayers. Another assumption is that most functions (other than law enforcement, judiciary and legislative) are candidates for privitization.

Special interests and public employee unions will fight this all the way, but we, the taxpayers, should demand it.

No more programs and employees checking in, never to check out.