This weekend's column: Weak government can sting ...

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: July 10, 2012 02:55PM
Updated: June 29, 2012 05:40PM

Weak government can sting - George Pyle | The Salt Lake Tribune

"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." — Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address

I don’t think this is what the Gipper meant. But some good digging by The Salt Lake Tribune’s crack staff in just the last few days turned up at least three cases where government was, indeed, the problem. Not because of what it did, but because of what it failed to do. ...

- Lax regulatory oversight factor in biggest bank bust in Utah - By Paul Beebe | The Salt Lake Tribune

Barnes’ failure helped lead to calls for reforms that have not come.

- Errors, employee unrest at Utah's Workforce Services - By Cathy Mckitrick | The Salt Lake Tribune
Some clients say DWS workplace woes also affect them.

- Official says more resources could have controlled Seeley Fire early - By Nate Carlisle | The Salt Lake Tribune
Fire has grown to 9,000 acres, forced evacuations.

... Of course government at all levels can be too big, too nosy, too much in everybody’s way. It is still a human institution, after all, and falls far short of the glory of Plato.

But when our politicians get ahead by demeaning and belittling the very idea of government, it can become a horrible self-fulfilling prophecy.

• George Pyle, a Tribune editorial writer, makes no claim to being wisely governed.

gpyle@sltrib.com

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