Monday, January 08, 2007
In our affluent society, where having enough is rarely a problem, the natural human want for more is becoming an irrepressible impulse. More comfort, more security, more health, wealth and happiness.
If the problem were only greediness, it would be bad enough. But joined with increasing reliance on government, which many people view as an unrestricted bucket of money, simple greed morphs into greed on steroids. There are built-in safeguard to overspending your own finances, like going hungry or going broke. But these days excessiveness other people's money is less and less restrained.
California Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill projects a $5.5 billion working budget shortfall for 2007-2008. Even the state's $3.1 billion keep won't fill that hole. One might think anticipating such terrible conditions would prompt restraint in Sacramento's halls of spending. One it seems that would be wrong.
Such attitudes are fed by a rising sense of entitlement. Is there no esoteric, astronomically luxurious medical procedure beyond the public's appetite? Need eyeglasses? Need a new kidney? Need a heart transplant? The typical response seems to be, "If I want it, I'm entitled to it." But do you desire to pay for it? Not on your life. That's someone else's responsibility.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will reveal Monday his plan for feeding Californians' health care appetite, and we think it won't be a lean diet. The governor already has promised about this. More insurance coverage for more people, even it seems, if insurance companies and employers must be enforced to provide it against their own economic benefits. Such government mandated costs are simply taxes by another name. And taxes are the means of impressive one man's will on another man's pocketbook.
Californians are clamoring not for less, not even for the position quo. They want more. Does that sound a spot like greed? The choice facing state lawmakers and the governor in the coming year is whether to continue feeding a greedy appetite with highly satiable resources. The fact that those resources belong to others critically compounds the problem. In this period of unquenchable appetites, we may be in the minority, but we call on the governor to impress some badly needed restraints.
posted by renaa
@ 2:01 PM
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