Private Sector vs. Government
One of the most basic premises on which the Republican platform is built is the underlying understanding that the private sector is far more efficient at doing most things than our governments are. The Democratic Party does not make this distinction. This is why we Republicans want so many services to be provided by the private sector. Government agencies are not susceptible to the pressures of market competition. As a result, they tend to be very inefficient and very wasteful. Let’s use the IRS as an example. For years & years, the IRS kept taxpayer records on inferior, outdated, super expensive computers. I remember reading an article about how my 486 computer which cost me about $2,400.00 was far superior to these machines. At that time, the machines they were using weren’t even equivalent to a 286model computer.
In the private sector, they would have replaced or upgraded this equipment at regular intervals. A private sector company with that many employees would have to constantly improve their systems in order to increase productivity. For in the private sector, companies lose business or even fail if they can’t find new ways of increasing productivity. The IRS doesn’t need to worry about losing business due to lack of productivity.
Let’s look at how well competition works. Look at the computer industry. It is 2008 now. This year I purchased a new computer that has thousands of times the processing power as my old 486 did back then. It only cost me $900.00. Now that is efficiency due to competition. Intel and AMD are constantly trying to outdo each other in order to gain market share. Dell and Hewlett Packard are doing the same. The end result is consumers get a far superior product for much less money.
Government jobs are not subject to the laws of supply and demand the same way that private sector jobs are. Private sector jobs are eliminated as soon as it is no longer profitable to employ a person. Government jobs are almost never eliminated. When have you ever heard of a government voluntarily laying off people because they are no longer needed? Never?
Imagine you live in a small town where the local government consists of about 10 people. There is a town clerk, highway superintendant, tax collector, property assessor, supervisor, town board, code officer, dog control officer, town justice, etc…. What incentive is there for these people to find ways of performing the same services for less money with only 7 people? There isn’t any. It’s quite the contrary. Generally, in growing towns, the tax base increases year to year. If the increase in tax revenue is more than the yearly increase in the cost of services, you would expect your tax rate to go down. How often does that happen? The government finds a way to spend that money.
The same holds true for tax payer funded organizations like schools, fire departments and police departments.