Perfection | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    Perfect is the enemy of good. I don't know who coined that phrase, but whoever it was, certainly got it right.

    It is a phrase which the bureaucrats who run our government have either never heard or surely do not believe. As long as they can find (i.e. dream up) even the tiniest of things to "fix" or "improve", they are ready to go. Regardless of the amount of improvement to be realized - and of even greater concern - without regard to the amount of taxpayer money it will take, they are ready. Return on investment is a term that is totally foreign to most bureaucrats (and perhaps even more so to most politicians)

    The Department of Education (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are two cases in point. They represent two government agencies in serious need of attention.

    In the case of the DOE, we hear a great deal about the need to invest in our children by providing improved educational opportunities so we can successfully compete intellectually in a global marketplace..(We hear the same thing locally - and sure enough, that is where most of our property tax money goes.) Has anyone looked lately at what substantive things DOE has accomplished over the years?? What has been our return on investment in the DOE?? Stronger teacher unions out in the hinterlands?? Maybe... How about the latest fad - Common Core - touted by the Anointed One's Administration?? But Common Core seems to be falling from favor (before it is even fully implemented) as more and more folks learn more and more about it. It won't be long before it finds itself in the same "it seemed like a good idea at the time" trash bin as "the new math" which was touted as the best thing since sliced bread (or was it bottled beer??) a few years ago.. In fact there seems to be only one measure of the success of any educational program - the per pupil cost of "educating" our kids. We only measure the input. Increase the input - improve the product. Yeah, right... There don't seem to be any measures of the "output". DOE siphons off a lot of taxpayer money "playing office" with our educational system. Maybe we should roll back their responsibilities to what is addressed in the Constitution (which would mean abolishing the entire operation - because it isn't even mentioned in the Constitution). Maybe we could reduce taxes, and let each state worry about its own educational system. Nationally our educational performance couldn't be much worse. Surely it could be much better... Maybe if we let the States take care of themselves.... Hmmm...

    And then there's the EPA

    Every time we hear anyone talk about cutting back on the EPA funding or trying to rein them in, we are flooded with threats about returning to the days when fish wouldn't even venture into the Hudson River (never mind people seeing fit to swim in it) or rivers in Pennsylvania which catch on fire. I rather doubt that there are many folks who long for a return to those days. The EPA has done some good things, cleaning up the Hudson and putting out the fires on Pennsylvania rivers among them. The "low hanging fruit" is pretty much gone. A lot of the middle hanging fruit is likewise gone. What's left is at the top of the tree - and guess who is reaching for it. If you said "The EPA", go to the head of the class. The latest restrictions they have placed on coal and the coal industry have done little more than significantly increase the cost (ergo the price) of domestically mined coal which in turn increases the cost (and the price) of electricity generated in coal fired power plants which shows up on our monthly electric bill. (Yet another regressive tax falling most on those least able to afford it.) It's a rather interesting turn of events. In 1978 the U.S. enacted the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act which, according to the flyer included in my last electric bill, encouraged the use of coal fired power plants. Not even ten years later (1987), the Act was repealed and now the EPA proposes to penalize customers who buy their power from utility companies that burn coal by forcing those utilities to get out of the coal burning business. Their latest proposal to, in effect, shut down coal fired power plants borders on the insane. There's more...

    The other day I heard a coal company executive from W. VA. tell us that the EPA has laid so many requirements on the coal industry that it is cheaper to import foreign coal than it is to extract our own coal. If that's true (and I have no reason to not believe him), it would appear that the "inmates" at EPA would seem to have taken over the asylum. It is time that they be reined in. Actually, it's past time... EPA needs to be rolled back - way back. We probably need to keep a few of them as a "maintenance force" but we surely don' need to be paying for "perfect". Now, don't forget. Perfect is the enemy of good. That last 10% will cost as much as the first 90%. (My WAG - based on experience and observation.) The numbers may not be exact but the notion is correct...

    And now the EPA seems to be trying to designate any land that even gets rained on as wetlands, and therefore under their control. (Yes, I know that's a stretch - but not a very big one.) More overreach. Utter madness.. The people in EPA don't seem to have enough productive work to do so they dream up things like that to keep themselves occupied.

    Wouldn't it be nice if the Anointed One treated the EPA (and all the rest of his regulatory agencies) like he treated the Iraq and the Afghanistan wars. Declare victory and either shut them down (as in Iraq) or roll our involvement waaaaay back (as in Afghanistan). I have no idea how much money that would free up - but my guess is that it would be a bundle.

    There should be only one difference between ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and shutting down superfluous Government Departments.. The money saved should go directly to reducing our national debt rather than reducing the deficit while at the same time expanding our so called "social programs" (i.e. increase handouts).. Pay attention here. Deficit is the difference between what we "take in" and what we spend. Debt is how much we owe. Two related but totally different things. It is time to start paying attention to our debt...

    D'ya Think??