My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...


Zombies are all the rage among science fiction aficionados. The undead walk among us, according to the lore, searching for brains to eat.

Which means that most liberals are safe.

But I digress.

While the notion of zombies is good fodder for science fiction lovers, I would submit that there are real zombies among us.

These zombies do not have decaying skin, shuffle when they walk, and seek to devour the living.

No, these zombies are government entities and programs that refuse to die long after they should have departed the land of the living.

Want an example?

Take the U.S. Postal Service. In their fiscal third quarter ending June 30, the U.S.P.S. increased revenue to $16.5 billion, a 2% increase. And on the surface that sounds good. Until you consider that their costs increased 9% in the same period to $18.42 billion due to increased fuel costs and labor cost increases.

The Postal Service employs 627,000 people, which means that it is currently losing $12,760 per worker.

Now, friends, if this was a private sector company, do you think it would stay in business very long with this financial situation?

Yet the Postal Service continues on its merry way, supported by you and me as taxpayers.

Zombie programs like the Post Office run at a loss- it consumes more than it produces. And those losses are paid for in our tax dollars that these zombie programs consume like the brains of the living and their desire for more brains, uh, dollars is insatiable.

The reason zombie programs like the Postal service can exist in the government sector is that the government can take money from productive citizens and businesses by force through taxation and onerous penalties. Or they can print more money.

Or do both.

And that is why these zombie programs never die.

Now fans of the zombie genre know that the way to kill a zombie is with a head shot. Shoot them right through the head.

So how do we kill zombie government programs?

The head shot necessary to terminate those programs is accountability. The zombie programs will not be accountable, but we can hold our elected representatives accountable for their spending. We who are not among the undead must make our elected leaders accountable for their spending decisions and how our tax dollars are used. Fail to be accountable for spending and you join the ranks of the former government employees.

If we fail to engage and hold our representatives accountable, the zombie horde is only going to grow.

And become more ravenous for our money.

And that, my friends, is my view.