It is time to conserve

It’s long past time for a rational, fact based discussion about what we are capable of.  As I speak to my fellow taxpayers and I hear what is important to them, it occurs to me that if we use the recognized definition of conservative, “Conserve: To Protect Something From Harm; To Hold Back a Portion,” we are all conservatives.  We are simply arguing over a matter of degree.  Some of us are more conservative than others.  Aside from the mindset and lifestyle, it is also an action.

Each individual who pays another for goods or services pays a tax of some kind.  Each tax dollar represents a portion of time, talent & energy given up, “exchanged” if you will, by the tax payer.  Many of us don’t feel that government, in general, respects the sacrifice each of us has made to accomplish that exchange, nor is the tax dollar sent on to the government respected for what it is and what it is meant to do.

I love my little brother.  In his professional life, he deals with people every day who have to make a choice about how they will define wealth so they can set goals to plan for the future.  These are capable, responsible people who, contrary to the current world view of many, really did “make that”.  Sure, you can live for the day, but tomorrow is coming and tomorrow ain’t fair.  Tomorrow does not care about you.  You can define wealth by how much you save or by how much you spend.

State budgets are not static, they are dynamic.  The exercise of fiscal restraint and responsibility, a fiduciary responsibility, if you will, to contributors is more important than promises to consumers.  This is not a “them against us” battle; rather, it is a balance between what we can give to help others out during the short term, and what we can do to empower them for success in the longer term.

There are far too many individuals in government, both elected and appointed, who define success not by results, but by intentions.  In nearly every case where government intends to help the people, the results are often very short of the intentions.

Whether it is the wealth of a nation, a community or a person, the more conservative you are, the more you seem to define wealth as how much you save, aka put aside for when times are tough.  The less conservative you are, the more you seem to define wealth by how much you can spend.  And when you have spent every dime you have, there is a propensity to turn to OPM, other peoples money.  I can’t help but quote an exceptionally wise philosopher, “Never a borrower nor a  lender be”, “the borrower will become a slave to the lender, and the lender a master over the borrower.”

In an open letter to subscribers, Porter Stansbury of S&A Investment Research sums the problem up.

“The biggest trend we see in place right now can easily be captured in one word: debt. Since 1992, there’s been an ominous shift in debt from the public to the private sector. Federal borrowing rates have declined, while private borrowing has grown at a rate never seen before in America.

In 1992, the government borrowed around $300 billion; private industry borrowed $200 billion. Since then, private borrowing has increased every year except 2000, and now tallies over $1 trillion per year. Federal borrowing, as you know, declined until mid-2000 and was actually negative for a few years (indicating a Federal surplus). But, overall net debts – private and federal combined – increased during the whole period, moving from around $500 billion per year in new debt to over $1 trillion per year in net debt addition.

A high rate of debt growth, by itself, is not necessarily a problem. If these funds are invested wisely, if they spur new economic opportunities, then, as a percentage of our national balance sheet, these debts could remain sanguine. But that’s not what has happened.”

Responsible representatives, who engage in governance, must keep their eye on the future and position resources to react quickly to marketplace trends.  In Arizona, we saw the disaster of the Janet Napolitano Governorship and the behavior of an enabling, less conservative Legislature.  No more can we afford to take from the inheritance that we should be building for the next generation; not personally, not in the community and certainly not in government.

I am an optimist.  However, we cannot be confident that growth in Arizona will fund future budget growth.  If we have a year-to-year surplus, that is not a license to spend even more to gain some power position through the gift of goodies.  It should be a signal that there are efficiencies that can be leveraged to grow the surplus for when times turn, just like they have before.  I recall being told by a long time governmental budgetary consultant, “Those of you coming to the government as a representative need to get over your concept of managing government like business.  You can’t, it doesn’t work that way.”  I never did get a really good reason, just you can’t, it doesn’t work that way.

I am a conservative because I believe in protecting our culture, our way of life from harm.  I believe in holding back “a portion” for when the unexpected occurs, because it always does.  We are not living in fantastic economic times today, but as fortunes have turned in the past, they will also turn in the future.  I’m a candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives, Legislative District-11.  I respect where tax dollars come from and the people who send their earning to government for the good of the community.  As a fiduciary charged with protecting the best interests of the people of the State of Arizona I will do just that.