If they don’t read a 1200 page bill…

In the past I have noted that one of my favorite books is Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. As a small offshoot of the whole Tax Day Tea Party movement there is an effort afoot to send a copy of the volume to members of Congress. This has also made for a new term in the political lexicon, “going Galt.”

By definition, “going Galt” is slowing down the work schedule or the innovation so as not to become one of those affected by President Obama’s “soak the rich” tax scheme. In other words, if I worked 70 hours a week and made $300,000 for my efforts, “going Galt” would be dropping the workload to 60 hours a week in order to make just a little bit less than the point where extra wealth would be seized by the IRS.

The “Going Galt” website interprets the idea this way:

When you see that a majority of your government’s policies and programs are not simply inefficient or ineffective, but are actually wrong in principle and detrimental to your own personal goals, then every dollar taken from you and spent implementing these programs becomes not just an act of theft, but an act of slavery as one is forced to support one’s oppressor. Seen in that light, it is crystal clear why people would choose to reduce their taxes so as to starve the beast and free themselves from its clutches. For these people, “Going Galt” is not an economic decision, but a moral one. They are ultimately fighting for their freedom and should be applauded and supported in their actions. (Emphasis in original.)

It is this view of government as oppressor which is moving from the radical to the commonplace as expressed in the Tea Party movement.

And if that still seems like a fringe element sort of concept, another method of measuring government impact on one’s life has been around for many years and buttresses the point of just how intrusive those bureaucrats are becoming.

While sine die for our Maryland General Assembly occurs tomorrow, a number of revenue enhancements they have adopted over the last many decades means that our state’s Tax Freedom Day doesn’t come along until next Sunday – a date which ranks as 5th latest in the year among the 50 states. (Sarah Palin’s Alaska is the earliest, they were freed way back on March 23. Right behind them is Bobby Jindal’s state of Louisiana which celebrated the milestone on March 28.) As a whole, the average American celebrates today, just two days before the IRS collects its due and 103 days into the calendar year.

However, the Tax Foundation (who determines each state’s tax burden as a percentage of the calendar year) cautions:

Tax Freedom Day, like almost all tax burden measures, ignores the current year’s deficits. If the projected deficit for 2009 were counted as a tax, Tax Freedom Day would arrive on May 29 instead of April 13-the latest date ever for this deficit-inclusive measure. (Emphasis mine.)

Hence the frustration that’s beginning to boil over like a tea kettle, whistling loudly but ignored by those in charge.

It would be an interesting question to ask our legislators and those who determine how our money is spent (all the way from the Salisbury City Council and Wicomico County Council through our General Assembly to Congress on the legislative side and from Rick Pollitt to Martin O’Malley to Barack Obama on the executive roster) just how many of them have actually read Atlas Shrugged – much less understood the concept behind Ayn Rand’s work.

If they’ve read the book, they will hopefully understand that the squalor which builds as conditions deteriorate for the masses isn’t all that far-fetched in a nation where unemployment is rising in most sectors except for government employment. It’s a workforce where most are honest and hard-working but you run more and more into the modern-day Wesley Mouch.

It’s my belief that government – at least as constituted in modern society – cannot solve problems because by doing so the agency or bureau would eliminate the reason for its own existence. Thus, problems tend to be addressed by regulation, which creates another set of problems for a new agency or bureau to work on. Government agencies can easily multiply faster than rabbits, and each gets a larger workforce that depends on taxpayers for their wages and benefits.

By getting into the legislative body, one can set the agenda for perpetual re-election and power by creating as many government jobs as possible while attempting to spread just enough benefits to the voting population to curry favor come time to vote. Is it any wonder that the campaign to win office nearly always spends far more than the office is worth salary-wise?

Yet those we place in charge of representing us cannot be counted on to even read the legislation which spends trillions of dollars of not just my money, but my daughter’s and any children she’s fortunate enough to have. This despite our President’s pledge to give Congress and the public enough time to read what’s he’s about to enact.

So while I feel this effort by the Galtists has its heart in the right place, the only thing that politicians listen to is the votes on Election Day – unfortunately the Tea Parties will long be a thing of the past once that day of reckoning arrives again.

In somewhat unrelated but still relevant electoral news, I found out today as well that one of the local left’s favorite whipping boys (because of their support for Congressional aspirant Andy Harris), the Club For Growth, is losing its president. Outgoing head Pat Toomey announced today that:

With 41 Republican senators, we should be able to use the filibuster to stop (liberal senators) in their tracks. But several of those Republicans support that liberal agenda. One of them is Arlen Specter. I personally believe that it is time for him to go. And that job falls on me. Very soon, I intend to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate in a Republican primary challenge against Arlen Specter.

In other words, a possible rematch of the 2004 campaign looms where Specter and Toomey battled and establishment Republicans (including President Bush) angered many of the grassroots conservatives by publicly backing Specter.

Taking over the Club will be former House member Chris Chocola from Indiana.