Interstate Highways For Sale

"Nothing like public service; it's why we're paid the big dollars." That was a comment from a DOT official in Texas this week. They've been getting angry email about the proposal to convert Interstate roadways to private toll roads. I thought this was humorous comment, but it's really too serious to laugh. Civil servants along with elected officials operate with a very vague sense of accountability to the public. To them, American citizens have become the masses that need to be managed. We are not thinking, reasoning families and individuals. No... the arrogance in "public service" these days suggests that government officials think we are herds of cows waiting for the next crack of the whip to tell us where to go.

My longest stint with the Federal Government lasted seven years. If you have ever worked in a government office, you know that government employees receive a lot of training. Anything, sexual harassement, diversity awareness, retirement coaching, photo copier training. The problem is that most government employees never get any training on the function of government--what it is supposed to do and to whom it is accountable. They don't get it in our broken down public schools and they don't get it on the job. What we end up with is essential a corrupted system. Abusers and unwitting alike don't have a clue what to do with authority other than use it to their advantage. That's how you get the Federal Reserve Bank, Dubai-owned American ports, Dubai-owned New York Stock Exchange, and Dubai-owned London Stock Exchange.

Anytime you can figure out a way to tax American citizens each time they perform a routine activity--like driving down the road--you should look over your shoulder for a well-financed "private interest." Texas is only the proving ground. Lou Dobbs reported this phenomenon earlier this year, but it was too incredulous at the time for me to wrap my head around it.

I'm writing letters a lot these days and I'm teaching my children how to write letters too. We have a population of misguided and poorly-educated adults who are assuming leadership positions they don't always understand. It's time right now to get busy making noise. Loud noise, so that the ones who are not really interested in public service scram and make room for truly noble public servants.