Reconciliation: Day Three

People often say that “government should be run like a business.” I realize that this is an honest, sincere appraisal and should be taken seriously. Having worked as a consultant to local governments for all these years, I can agree that, in many cases, government can be operated in a more businesslike manner.

In such matters as fiscal conservatism, long-range attention to operation and maintenance costs, productivity, considerations of life-cycle costs, and employee proficiency, the public sector can learn from its counterparts in the private sector.

I know my friends will allow me, though, to point out some differences.

First, government entities operate under what is known as “The Antideficiency Act. This act forbids agencies from “making or authorizing an expenditure from, or creating or authorizing an obligation under, any appropriation or fund in excess of the amount available in the appropriation or fund unless authorized by law.” 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1)(A). In other the act forbids from spending money on any purpose not explicitly authorized and funded by a specific law.

The act also forbids government from “accepting voluntary services for the United States, or employing personal services not authorized by law, except in cases of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.” 31 U.S.C. § 1342. So, government can’t operate like a non-profit corporation either.

I hope we can agree that those are substantial differences. Further, business can use any means to make a profit as long as the means are legal. (We might agree that some corporations skate closer to the edge of that pond than others).

Government must not only operate legally, it must also operate strictly within the limits of specific enabling or operative legislation, including the ancient stricture of protecting the “health, safety, welfare, and morals” of the community.

One additional point merits consideration. Government must provide services to all eligible citizens. It can’t pick and choose which members of the public to serve. For me, personally—and you are free to decide for yourself—that’s what unnerves me about the concept of “charter schools.” We once had a concept in the South called “pretty-bolling,” or picking only those cotton bolls that were large and easy to pick. The others were left to rot.

This all reminds me of a time I complained to a good friend, a legal scholar and teacher of The Law, about the behavior of some attorney. He carefully (we were out jogging and had plenty of time) explained that America’s judicial system, unlike that of some countries, was based on a form whereby the aim was that each side was protected by the laws and adequately represented by a legal advocate.

“If you want to change the way our attorneys behave,” he said, “you’ll have to change our entire legal system. And I don’t think that is going to happen.”

We might apply that lesson to government. Our system of government operates in the way for which it is designed. Could we not all work together to make it operate well for all under that system, rather than seeking to destroy it?

Just thinking …