WHY GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP IS A BAD IDEA

Larrey Anderson, writing for American Thinker, has one of the best explanations of why the government is the wrong entity to improve our economy.

It is called, "Three Things Government Cannot Do," and it clearly outlines why government does not belong in the business of business.

There are three things government cannot do, no matter how hard they try. They cannot: (1) produce products, (2) create wealth, or (3) provide jobs that pay for themselves.

In the government, there is no financial incentive for the inventor, the manufacturer, or the laborer to create commodities. As workers in the old Soviet Union used to say, "The government pretends to pay us -- and we pretend to work."

Therefore there is only one conclusion to draw: Government cannot produce anything substantive. No government ever has over the long haul...period. A few socialist regimes have tried...all have ultimately failed.

No wealth is created by the government.

Take a look around you in your home or office.

Whatever you see that is made of plastic (a petroleum product, by the way), steel or microchip was likely either made outside the U.S. or imported for assembly here. Certainly not a single one of them was made by the government.

Why are products made outside the U.S. or only assembled here?

For the most part it is due to: high taxes; overly stringent regulations and the high cost of labor in the United States, due in great part to union demands.

Finally, government cannot provide productive jobs.

"What? Joe, are you saying that the government does not employ people?"

(Sigh!) Of course not! I did not say government cannot provide jobs. I said government cannot provide PRODUCTIVE jobs. (Please try to pay attention!)

In order to benefit the economy, there must be enough jobs that produce something the people want to buy.

The government does not produce anything people want to buy (GM notwithstanding. There is great question whether even they are producing anything people want to buy).

Services? Yes. Product? No.

A business pays its employees on the basis of how the employee will help produce products or services to sell at a profit.

An employee must produce three to ten times the cost of his paycheck to keep the business afloat.

Whatever work a government employee does, it does not and cannot pay for itself (as a businesses' employee labor must).

You, dear reader, are no doubt brilliant enough to know that the government does not pay its employees out of its own money BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE ANY MONEY OF ITS OWN. It must confiscate its money from the people at large in the form of taxes.

As Larrey Anderson wrote: "Every time a politician claims that the government is going to increase production, create wealth, or provide jobs...grab your wallet."

Government ownership of productivity is a very bad idea...one whose time has not, and will never, come.