Kohring: Government should not be promoting business ventures

Spectrum, by Vic Kohring

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty." -- Thomas Jefferson

My professional and political goals are both philosophical and pragmatic. Having been in the Legislature for 10 years, I have witnessed much pettiness and power-mongering and precious few moments of statecraft.

Now that I'm seeking office again I wish openly for a society that truly values individual liberty, that understands the role free markets and private enterprise play in a genuinely resplendent and happy community.

Fortunately, the Mat-Su Valley is such a place. Through my numerous polls and going door to door, I have found that my community yearns for freedom and independence.

I came to the Legislature believing in the classic values of hard work, individual goals and a free market that allows people to work their way to monetary and societal success. I now seek office again with an even greater belief in these values and the confidence that most of my constituents do too.

What should government do to accomplish the goal of a free society? It should do few things but do them well. These include schools, roads, public safety and the court system. This is what's known as "limited government," which is what our country's Founding Fathers envisioned.

Few of the touchy-feely social programs touted as "absolutely necessary" actually are. For those actions best described as "helping the poor or disadvantaged," if people lived in a true free society, they would help the distressed just as Americans did all through the 18th and 19th centuries when vast armies of government workers were nonexistent.

What do I wish government not to do?

It should not be engaged in or promote business. It should gradually relieve itself of many welfare functions which church and secular institutions do much more efficiently. It should divest itself of ownership of land so individuals and voluntary groups can own and manage land themselves. It should stop trying to be all things to all people.

To be more specific regarding present state issues: I have attempted to stop all efforts at placing new taxes upon us. Taxes are not the foundation of a healthy society. Freedom is. I have also argued in the Legislature and am on record that the Alaska Permanent Fund belongs to the people. It is not for government to squander on its many ill-advised projects.

In a recent survey I mailed to constituents, 92 percent came back with a clear call for less government spending. Ninety-four percent do not want the permanent fund spent on all the "run in the red" programs the Legislature has come up with since Big Oil made us rich.

This is not a mere matter of dollars being spent wisely or not. It's when government begins to spend billions on social programs not specifically authorized by the constitution, it creates a large class of people who begin to expect government to take care of them.

Take the new tax-subsidized sports arena in Wasilla, for example. While it's nice for those who use it, why should those who do not use it have to pay for it? If you take the process that created the arena and then multiply it by several hundred over 30 years, you have approximately what our state budget looks like.

Hundreds of these kinds of programs, many running in the red, often backed by small groups of loud and enthusiastic people who benefit by them, run over the rest of us. Small, seemingly innocuous, government programs eventually evolve into an army of expensive bureaucrats. This is Alaska now.

Each time I've run for office I've knocked on doors to discover most people are aware of this and want it stopped. So I salute my constituents and will not forget them when I confront the big spenders who sneer at my tightwad attitude, meant to protect the wallets of those I represent.

Nor will I forget the people of the Mat-Su, many who are behind me every step of the way. For this I thank you.

If you re-elect me to my sixth term, I'll march down to Juneau with a renewed vigor to take on those who wish to continue the business of fleecing us for what they define as the "good of the state."

I think we ought to consider the good of the individual who earns the money first, the good of those who mind their own business, the good of those who want to pay their own way instead of giving to everyone with their hand out. I want to work for you and freedom, your freedom and mine.

Will you join me?

Vic Kohring represents Wasilla and the Mat-Su in the Alaska State Legislature.