Government is a service, not a business

I have wanted to write this letter for a while. I don’t want it to be angry or critical. I decided to focus on something familiar to me. I hear people say Trump and Musk are good businessmen. I don’t have the qualifications to judge that. They are extremely wealthy. My question to you all is, why is that important?

Here’s where my experience comes in. Not only was I the past Mayor of Geneseo, my career was working in agencies that contracted either directly with the government or received government grants to provide services to support families.

Government is not a business, nor should it be. It is a service organization. Government does not produce a product you purchase. Government is not meant to turn a profit. The money to run a government includes income, property and sales taxes, fees, sometimes loans, sometimes grants. We pay those to governments in return for services. Those services include keeping us safe, protecting our air, water and food from contamination, keeping roads and bridges repaired, educational opportunities, loans to businesses, grants for medical and other research, ensuring travel is safe, consumers are protected, Veterans are cared for, your Social Security is there at retirement, providing health care in the form of Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid or through the Affordable Care Act. And just to be clear, the elderly in skilled nursing facilities rely on Medicaid. It also means food for people of all ages who are struggling. Also the federal government engages in what is often referred to as soft diplomacy through USAID, for example. I have heard people ask why we should feed the hungry in impoverished areas around the world. Aside from the obvious humanitarian answer, that food comes from American farmers, a huge market and source of income for them.

I could say more but my point is, the government is not a business. There seems to be a push to privatize everything. How that looks in my mind is we still pay taxes and the money goes to private businessmen or else you don’t pay taxes and pay for the services outright to the businessmen like you pay for internet and utilities and food now. As businesses, they will need to turn a profit so they set what you pay to insure that they do that at the level they aspire to reach. Currently the super wealthy have a lot of ways to legitimately pay no taxes. Think about that. The people currently taking away your services, that you pay for with taxes, pay none. They benefit from those services also. Think roads, safe flight….

Another thing your taxes paid for was oversight of the agencies providing you services and consumer protections from businesses scamming you. The next time you want to repeat the anger and hate swirling around, please think about what I wrote.

I completely support our form of Democracy. I don’t want to think about today’s children growing up without the protections I had and the improvements we have accomplished.