MISSOURI: WHERE THE RIVERS RUN DRY

KENNETT, Mo. -- Unless you have been on a spy mission off the coast of China, you know the Great State of Missouri has suddenly run out of money to fund some of the state's more essential public services.

Still in its embryonic stages, Jefferson City's treasury shortfall is neither disastrous, at least for the moment, nor unexpected. It happens to the best of governments, particularly those close to the Potomac.

Missourians can't say they haven't enjoyed the ride, which has encountered only a handful of bumpy spots with most of the trip easily maneuvered, as they received more and more benefits from more and more services happily provided by Jefferson City. Smooth sailing is, after all, just good politics and we've had plenty of that over the past decade.

One of the realities seemingly overlooked in numerous political venues around the country is that the first priority of good government is not popularity but responsibility. Oh, I know, there's a tendency of anyone who has to go through the rigorous exercise known as political campaigns to look on the brighter side of public affairs, even if it's only to forestall bouts of depression. Happy faces make contented voters, and as long as a candidate doesn't commit philosophical perjury, there's a certain logic in promising the moon and even the stars, particularly if your constituency is either indifferent or doesn't have the foggiest notion what is being promised.

But what is being promised these days is extremely pertinent to what is now happening in our state Capitol. Today's politicians, who in reality are only mirrors of their predecessors, have been pledging more government for less money and even tax refunds for such a long period of time that it's now the political mantra of conservatives and liberals alike.

Just about everyone agrees we need to fix our public schools, increase our state college student bodies, repair the lives of the welfare assisted, maintain law and order even if we must spend millions for new cages to house our criminals, patch hundreds of miles of highways that are virtually crumbling before our eyes, attract new payrolls and keep those we still have, and treat state workers with some degree of recognition that we appreciate their efforts.

Did I leave anything out? Well, there's a drug war we're losing, a health care crisis that seems unending, a farm profit ailment that could turn terminal, and looming somewhere in the future is a collapse of services to inner-city residents. The list is seemingly endless, but it only appears that way when you're depressed.

It requires no specialized training to recognize that most calamities occur when occur when the victims fail to recognize the potential for disaster. After all, how many public officials did you hear predicting the state's sudden fiscal shortfall?

The warnings came after the fact, although this is not to say knowledgeable persons didn't know there was trouble afoot. This only proves the problem of yelling "Fire!" when no one cares the place is about to go up in flames. It's well-known in partisan circles that unhappy voters have a vengeance that leads to humiliation at the polls and no one forfeits careers just for the sake of the Truth. At least not many today do.

It is important to understand that problems facing Jefferson City today have become more and more difficult to unravel because of past indifference and, in all fairness, because these dilemmas are not easily resolved.

The state cannot improve the overall performance of its educational system if there are glaring examples of official and public indifference to the solutions. The criteria for today's public educational system is that it not cost taxpayers extra dollars. The price of repair is less important than the maintenance of contented but indifferent taxpayers. So we skimp on teacher salaries, new classrooms, better equipment and remedial programs for the sake of public silence, although some would call it lethargy.

Missouri has been aware of the inadequacy of the 15-year highway plan for several years, at least long enough to have resolved the dilemma, but we're still dancing around the solutions, even taxing those who never use our roadways and should not have to pay for their repair and maintenance. The solution thus offered is to spread the misery as widely as possible, even involving the uninvolved. The price should be paid by those who utilize roads and highways; it's called pay-as-you-go, which is a concept both fair and equitable and virtually unknown in political circles.

It is disturbing to note that most discussions of today's challenges rarely include the words public responsibility. It is decreed this word is to be avoided at all costs for it tends to anger voters to the point of removing politicians. It is obviously far more important to keep the peace than push unpopular solutions, and when push comes to shove, anyone criticizing the public is shoved right out of office.

There isn't a problem facing our state today that can't be solved with public responsibility.

Missourians who demand the lowest taxes assessed in any state and would riot if they were even once denied a Hancock Amendment refund, and who believe they are exempt from obligations to be informed about the affairs of state, are the real root of today's problems.

The evolution of irresponsibility began when a few football fans coaxed politicians into building a stadium for a team they didn't have, evolving to today's multiple groups demanding more and more stadiums. Talk about a psychotic batting order!

Missouri will resolve its dilemmas when its residents assume their responsibilities and when its public officials address the needs of millions instead of the wishes of a small handful.

When did Missourians vote the word "no" out of the state's vocabulary?

~Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.