Column for July 12, 2007

I'm from the government and here to help

This column marks the completion of one full year of writing for "The Selma News" and "The Wilson's Mills News". I am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to share my opinions and information with you. I thank each and every one of you for reading my column, and I want to take the time to thank the staff of "The Selma News" and "The Wilson's Mills News" for the opportunity as well as their support. I have heard a lot of praise from some of my readers, disagreement from some, and even harsh criticism from others. No matter what, I am glad that all of you are reading. For those of you who have said that they agree with me 85% of the time, rest assured that I am working on getting that other 15%.

That having been said, I want you to know how your various levels of government are allegedly helping you. Sure, that is a popular topic with me, but as Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does". He prefaced that statement by saying, "My momma always says that..." His momma and my mother have a lot in common, because she said the same thing often.

At the 4th of July celebration held right in Uptown Selma, did you know that the county's health inspector limited your choice of food vendors? One local business, Edelweiss Bakery, paid the requisite fee to have a vendor's booth at the local festival. There were other food vendors as well. Steve Reed, the owner of Edelweiss, spent a bunch of money in supplies, staff pay, and booth equipment. Just down the street was a church group selling chicken, as we often see at these events. The Edelweiss booth was almost shut down, limiting them to selling only chips and beverages. The reason? There was not some sort of guard in place and netting on his booth. There was also no such protections on the church booth, yet they were allowed to continue to operate and serve food.

What is the paradigm at work here? Edelweiss prepared its food in a kitchen that is inspected and graded by health inspectors on a regular basis. The food was put into bins and transported fifty yards down the street to their tent for retail. Apparently, that was not good enough. The non profit food sellers did not need to undergo any such inspection or permitting. I was told that the reason for the difference was that Edelweiss is a business and the other group is a non profit organization. That tells me that it is fine to possibly get food poisoning, as long as it is at a not for profit booth. I am not saying that you stand a better chance of getting food poisoning at a church plate sale than at a restaurant. I am merely pointing out the stupidity in the regulations. The truth be told, it is for profit with either group. The only difference is what sort of corporation the proceeds will be supporting.

If you do get food poisoning at a local outdoor festival and are on Medicaid, you can rest assured that the rest of us will probably be paying higher property and sales taxes to support your medical care. Medicaid funding is an unfunded mandate by the state that is placed on the backs of local governments. Some local governments spend as much as 30% of their budget on Medicaid. Two thirds of homeowners in the state will end up paying higher tax rates to help fund the growing Medicaid costs. Many of these costs are incurred as a result of supplying medical care to illegal aliens, but that is another discussion for another day. I have been reading news articles that some state law makers want to fund Medicaid more at the state level with a property transfer tax and higher sales taxes.

The governmental efforts to allegedly keep our food supply safe and provide health care services are obviously unfairly handled and funded. I decry the stupidity and inequity of government agency regulatory enforcement as well as forcing those of us who bear the burden of taxation to pay for the health care of others.