The conservative ideology that small government is better government is being put to the test by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Pruitt should have never been confirmed by the Senate. His questionable ethics at the EPA are bad enough, but what we’re now finding out is that this unethical behavior also occurred during his tenure with state government in Oklahoma.
The idea that a small government allows citizens to get involved and hold local leaders accountable is a severely flawed notion. Here in Salt Lake County, we have 16 independent cities. That’s 16 city recorders, 16 mayors, 16 waste management/improvement districts … if that’s not bureaucratic waste, I don’t know what is! But even more troubling is that our newspapers do not have the resources to monitor bad behavior and keep elected officials in check. The inability of the Fourth Estate to monitor land development deals or contracts with kickbacks means that our tax dollars are more likely to be squandered on some elected official’s buddy. It means the oversight will be limited, not the bureaucracy in government. In practice, small government doesn’t mean you have more input in your local communities … unless of course you know a guy.
Landon Pope, Sandy
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