Another way of saying "...comes with strings attached": Matt Mayberry is quite right! - Granite Grok

Another way of saying “…comes with strings attached”: Matt Mayberry is quite right!

Free Market Govt Redtape“We don’t take any money from the state or the federal government. You know why? It’s because I don’t want to serve a piping hot bowl of red tape every day.”

From his UL Op-Ed, Matt hits the nail on the head.  The problem isn’t that the Feds want to make sure that their money (er, our money minus their vigorish) is well spent, it is that it all comes with micro-management. You may have the idea, you may have the sweat, you may have the willingness to do the right thing, but of course some government bureaucrat (or commission or board or some other entity that ISN’T doing the good work you want to do themselves) believes you don’t know HOW to do it – so you now have the privilege of paying taxes to them simply to have them tell you how to do what you want to do, how to spend that which you have left of your treasure, even as they simply sit in a chair with a keyboard (emphasis mine, reformatted):

Another View — Matt Mayberry: A piping hot bowl of red tape

I recently attended the 2017 Londonderry-Derry Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner. That evening, the Sonshine Soup Kitchen won the Business of the Year Award. Linda German, a firecracker of an activist, talked about making ends meet during hard times, and she said something profound and unfortunately accurate.

“We don’t take any money from the state or the federal government. You know why? It’s because I don’t want to serve a piping hot bowl of red tape every day.” And she’s right. The federal government would come in and dictate things such as serving portions. These volunteers just want to feed people, provide fellowship, and comfort those in need.

No, she may not be doing it in the most optimal way according to said bureacrat, but then again, she doesn’t have the full resources of the Federal Govt to make it happen but the Feds would force her to spend what she has for resources in not feeding people but feeding the vast maw of GOvt whose business seems to be, more and more, to demand that we cross every “t” and dot every “i” they demand of us.  I’ve filled out some of their forms in my years and in almost every case, they just get in the way of doing what needs to be done.  An unfunded headache (emphasis on the latter word though the former one should give rise to ire (“unfunded”) to all

The Sonshine Soup Kitchen is not alone. I have traveled to all 234 towns and cities in New Hampshire. I toured an apple orchard and learned how the burden of federal regulations forced the farm out of $250,000 of annual wholesale business. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) released a survey that said government red tape is a “very serious problem” for 25 percent of small businesses, while 55 percent of small employers feel the sheer volume and complexity of red tape burdens their business.

Government paperwork strikes at the smallest of New Hampshire industries. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regulated that the six New Hampshire-based fishing vessels must have a paid monitor onboard to document the type of fish and the volume of each catch, at a cost of $700 per day. That is often more than what the fishermen earn each day.

But Govt knows best even as it pushes folks like these fishermen out of business.  Since when was it a mandate of the people to have Govt bureaucratically put businesses out of work for no other reason because REGULATIONS FIRST!  They’ve lost all focus on what Govt should do – and what it shouldn’t.

This is a great line, bolded below, by the way:

We know about the problems at the Manchester VA. Veterans tell me that they wait two to three hours to see a doctor. Red tape is not the bandage healing the wounds; it’s the infection hurting everything it touches.

As candidates begin staking their claim for Congress, we need to demand concrete answers, not empty talking points. Representing us in Washington should be about customer service. We need to eliminate barriers so that individuals can get back on their feet, non-profits can lend a hand, and businesses can create more good-paying jobs. Enough is enough. I’ve personally had my fill of the piping hot bowl of red tape. How about you?

Matt Mayberry is a former city councilor and school board member living in Dover.

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