Oakland County Board of Commissioners Meeting July 09

Yesterday I sat in on an Oakland County Board of Commissioners Meeting. They decided to start having these at night, which is good, since now citizens who have jobs can come in and watch government in action. The main topic of this meeting was to discuss the County Executive's recommended budget for the next couple years.

The first portion of the meeting was public comment, and it was at this time that I felt like I time-traveled back to the middle ages. I was in a great hall, with the king in front of us, and one by one petitioners went forward and asked the king in his infinite wisdom to give charity and gifts to the serfs who came before him. With a wave of his hand, he would indicate whether he personally liked the cause or issue or not, and so dispense with the money in his treasury, money taken from citizens through force and war.

This is modern government in America. One by one, unions and citizens came forward and demanded more money from the county government for various issues. It was good enough that they wanted the money, and it wasn't good enough to these people that that money was not there, and even if it was there, it wasn't even their money- it was my money and yours.

Most of the focus of public comment was on Oakland County Health Plan. Apparently our county government offers health care that covers the bottom 35% of our county, but that wasn't good enough to many people. Several people came forward who made too much money to be covered by the plan, or ran businesses that paid their employees too much so that they weren't covered. The arguments were made that the health care plan should cover the bottom 60% of our county, and if more money was needed to pay for it, than taxes or fees should be levied on the top 40%.

Our nation was founded on liberty and choices. What struck me about this discussion on the Oakland County Health Plan was the fact that when faced with a choice, people made one decision and than wanted the government to give them the other option. One guy, suffering from cancer and scared for his life, does not have health insurance- because, as he said, it was important to him to have a house and a car. He made a decision to not have health insurance, and instead have those other things. That's his call- but it isn't his call to now say that others have to pay for his health insurance.

The rich guy came forward and said that everyone should commit to giving 5% of their income to this program, if they are in the top income earners, is becoming more normal in our society. If he wants to donate his money, that's his business- but it is not the business of our government to take my money and give it to causes that it likes- that isn't a free country, that is a tyranny. In his appeal he talked about empathy and giving, but I saw him come in- his car is better than mine, his suit is better than mine, and if he wants to care and give to others, that's his call, but I need my money to care and give to my children and family and the charities that I care about. Increasingly saying that you care and have empathy means you are superior to others, and that isn't true- no one is ever better than you.

The main argument about expanding the health care plan centered on the fact that it would probably not cost the County government that much. The idea is that the state will cover the cost, and that the federal government will reimburse the state. So, since the federal government pays for it, that means it is free. Democrats and liberals now believe that money does not exist- the county passes the buck to the state which passes it to the federal government, who spends money that they don't have, without a care in the world. But money does exist- the federal government debt will lead to credit crunches, inflation, and eventually collapse of the world's economic system.

After public comment, Commissioner Shelly Taub brought up something that I will come back to later. Then the budget was submitted. Here is a story about that.