OPINION: Let’s hope Gov. Deal’s actions match his words
Gov. elect Nathan Deal hasn’t taken office yet, but we like a lot of his pre-office comments.
The most important issue facing Georgia’s government is finance and the recession. Many state officials simply want to raise taxes to keep their jobs untouched.
But Deal is sounding the alarm, saying last week that state government needs to be “downsized.”
With the state facing a $2 billion shortfall next year, more spending cuts must be done beyond just a few furlough days.
For too long, government officials have pretended that they were exempt from the recession. Indeed, the unemployment rate for government employees is much lower than it is for the private sector.
While state spending cuts have to be done smartly, we have no problem with the overall downsizing of government. Waste and inefficiency are endemic to bureaucracies. There’s no reason to hike taxes in Georgia just to keep state employees employed while the private sector struggles.
There will no doubt be a lot of wailing and complaining. You will hear a dozen times that the state has “cut to the bone.”
No it hasn’t. There are a lot of overpaid bureaucrats in Georgia, people whose compensation is far above that for similar private sector jobs. An across the board state salary cut of five percent would save hundreds of millions of dollars. There is still much room to cut the size of government.
Of course at this point, Deal’s words are just rhetoric. When he takes office in a few weeks, we’ll see how serious he is about getting the state’s spending under control.
The most important issue facing Georgia’s government is finance and the recession. Many state officials simply want to raise taxes to keep their jobs untouched.
But Deal is sounding the alarm, saying last week that state government needs to be “downsized.”
With the state facing a $2 billion shortfall next year, more spending cuts must be done beyond just a few furlough days.
For too long, government officials have pretended that they were exempt from the recession. Indeed, the unemployment rate for government employees is much lower than it is for the private sector.
While state spending cuts have to be done smartly, we have no problem with the overall downsizing of government. Waste and inefficiency are endemic to bureaucracies. There’s no reason to hike taxes in Georgia just to keep state employees employed while the private sector struggles.
There will no doubt be a lot of wailing and complaining. You will hear a dozen times that the state has “cut to the bone.”
No it hasn’t. There are a lot of overpaid bureaucrats in Georgia, people whose compensation is far above that for similar private sector jobs. An across the board state salary cut of five percent would save hundreds of millions of dollars. There is still much room to cut the size of government.
Of course at this point, Deal’s words are just rhetoric. When he takes office in a few weeks, we’ll see how serious he is about getting the state’s spending under control.
You tell Mr. Deal he and his party have lost the confidence of the people and he better get it right or we'll throw him out in 4 years. The people are fed up with him and all of his political buddies and are in a foul mood.
Sorry Michelle, you may be so gullible to "trust" any politician but We The People are cynical. Count me as an unbeliever.