RIGHT OF CENTER: GOVERNMENT'S GURDEN IS ON CITIZENS

People are beginning to realize that the apparatus of government is costly. But what they do not know is that the burden falls inevitably on them.

-- Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)

I've often been accused of being anti-government, which is a fair charge as far as it goes. But government does serve a purpose.

My Libertarian friends notwithstanding, most people acknowledge the need for government -- for laws that reflect the nation's morality and sense of justice. Without government, we are left with chaos. And yet the words of the French philosopher Bastiat, written at the height of the French Revolution, ought to resound with every American today. It's not government per se that is the problem. It is intrusive government encumbering individuals that is immoral and unjust.

Our nation's Bill of Rights doesn't grant rights. It only bars government from breaching natural rights that are inhered by God. At least that was the intent. But we have bastardized the intent, creating all kinds of rights until charlatans today claim with a straight face the right to a job, a home and even health insurance.

To any problem, personal or otherwise, we seek a government solution. But we are treading on shaky ground if we truly believe in liberty. Every time we reach out to government for a handout, to right a wrong, to cure some social ill, we invite intrusion. The burden, as Bastiat says, falls inevitably on us. Let me give you an example.

I'm in the newspaper business. Fifty years ago, if someone wanted to start a newspaper, they needed only an office, a few typewriters, a contract with a printing company and the willingness to work long hours. For a few hundred dollars, someone could start such an operation.

But what's the situation today? Certainly technology makes starting a newspaper easy. One man with a Macintosh computer, the right program and a good printer can get a good start. But obstacles are everywhere.

First he must find a way to finance an office. There's a vacant building in the middle of the business district and only two blocks from the police station, so he hires a contractor to remodel the place. The contractor's charge includes more than materials and labor. He also must pay for his employees' workers compensation, unemployment and health insurance -- costs that are passed on to his customers. The renovations must comply with stringent building codes, further adding to costs. Ramps and an elevator must be installed to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The would-be entrepreneur's option is to rent a building. But of course his landlord faces the same costs and passes them on to his renter.

Before he prints a single edition, the newspaper owner faces a staggering debt. He presses on and hires a few employees. The law tells him how much they will be paid and the hours they are allowed to work before their wages rise. Like the contractor, he has to pay for workers comp and unemployment insurance. Costs continue to rise as his profit margin narrows.

But the newspaperman is persistent. He begins printing a paper. Reflected in the price of his printing contract is the skyrocketing cost of newsprint due to a drop in production. Environmentalists and spotted owl advocates have successfully blocked the timber industry from logging millions of acres of trees. The environment-friendly ink used in the paper also is costly but necessary due to laws regulating chemicals that go into ink.

But that's not the worst of it. The newspaper owner has no assurance that the laws and regulations that are so costly won't become more numerous and intrusive.

He soon realizes the only way he'll make money is to raise advertising rates. Advertisers aren't particularly happy but they understand and of course pass on the higher costs to their customers. The advertiser shouldn't have to foot all the higher costs so subscribers are asked to pay an extra dime for the paper.

The subscriber isn't hit too hard by the dime, but it doesn't take too much imagination to comprehend the vast web of market forces in play. Every product or service the consumer purchases has included in the price the hidden regulatory costs for the myriad producers, suppliers, packagers, distributors and contractors. Add to the mix confiscatory income, property and sales taxes and we begin to recognize that the burden of costly government indeed falls inevitably on us.

~Jay Eastlick is the news editor of the Southeast Missourian.