According to the OD yesterday, Congressman Hanna is co-sponsoring job legislation, specifically, reauthorization of two programs to, according to a news release, “offer competition-based awards to stimulate technological innovation among small private-sector businesses while providing government agencies new, cost-effective, technical and scientific solutions to meet their diverse needs, without extra federal spending.” The links in the article go to federal programs offering grants.
While small businesses are the backbone of the economy, why do they need federal programs especially created just for them? The same question goes for special programs for women and minority-owned businesses. Special federal programs have been created to favor certain "classes" defined by the government as worthy of special treatment.
How about the class of people who don't want special treatment . . . who don't want a federal handout . . . who don't want special rules created just for "them?" . . . the ones who what to achieve success through their own resources?
In all these programs, some person or company gets a government hand or hand-out while some person/company's competitor does not. This both encourages businesses to get on the government dole (and control) and discourages those who want to engage in free competition on a level playing field.
Simply put, special programs for special people are costly ... both in dollars spent and in the discouragement given to those who do NOT want to be beholden to the government in running their businesses.
The country is maxed-out . . . on its credit . . . . and on its patience with special treatment for special people, companies, and groups.
3 comments:
The new congressman is turning out to be the second coming of Sherwood Boehlert who never met a spending bill he didn't like.
We , who voted for Hanna, expected a smaller government ,less spending lower taxes committed representative ---guess we'll have to try again.
Hanna is and always has been a Boehlert admirerer. But, the real point is that small businesses should not have to rely on grants. The who awars them to whom is a problem onto itself. The real small business need is investment capital which seems never to be addressed in our area.
Of course, many of the businesses that depend upon grants may go belly up chasing areas of the economy the government favors. Feel Good projects like bicycles that generate power and store it in a 90 pound $900 battery between your legs that will later power your alarm clock overnight, most of the time. But that might clear the Field Of Reality for real entrepreneurs to chase real opportunity and generate real wealth. Unfortunately, they'll pay real taxes to a surreal bureaucracy. Really.
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