Karen Handel and Liberty, Part 2: Water, Health, Budget, and Government

Continuing from Karen Handel and Liberty, Part 1: Introduction, Economy, Education, and Transportation, we now move on to ‘Water’ on the Issues page of KarenHandel.com

‘Water’:

First, Mr. Handel notes that

Since it is a matter of “when” and not “if” the next drought occurs, Georgia needs a statewide water plan to prepare for the inevitable. This statewide water plan must respect the water rights of all in our state and cannot undermine the success and future of one community for the benefit of another.

I’m still not convinced that providing water is a function of State government, though I’m certainly open to the case being made. That said, I do support the idea that a Statewide water plan, should one exist, should respect the water rights of all.

As Governor, Karen will deal aggressively with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure that Georgia’s interests do not take a back seat to those of Florida and Alabama.

Even if I can be convinced that the State has a legitimate interest in providing water, I maintain that it is most certainly NOT a Federal issue, so thank you, Ms. Handel, for vowing to fight this usurpation of a function that at most should be dealt with on a State level.

We need to continue our aggressive conservation efforts which have reduced water consumption by 12 percent. At the same time, Karen believes that we must begin to invest in newer technology, such as water reuse and desalination.

Truly noble ideas here, Ms. Handel, but how exactly do you plan to implement them? If you plan to use government force to mandate these things for private individuals/businesses, you have my word that I will stand in opposition. If, however, you simply plan to work to convert State offices to use these standards and simply ask that others follow your lead without the force of law behind that request, you will have my support and even my applause for working toward this genuinely noble ideal.

‘Health’:

Karen supports flexibility with Medicare and Medicaid dollars, a consumer-driven, free-market based system, and portable coverage that isn’t tied to the employer.

I’ll give Ms. Handel a break on the Medicare/Medicaid issues in regards to Federal funding and Federal requirements, but I do ask that she work to eliminate as much of the State side of those programs as possible, as government has no business in healthcare at all. That said, the rest of the statement, regarding consumer-driven, free-market systems where coverage isn’t tied to an employer is exactly what we need – and would have, if government got out of the way.

In addition to this, she supports tax deductibility for employees, not just employers, and safety nets for the truly impoverished and those who are mentally or physically not able to care for themselves.

The tax-’deductible’ plans sound good to most people, but my question is that if government doesn’t need the money, why are the taxes charged in the first place? A better solution there would be to eliminate or at least reduce the tax burden rather than simply give a ‘deduction’ or ‘credit’ for it.

Karen also supports 21st century initiatives to increase utilization of health information technology, including e-prescriptions and electronic health records. She is adamantly opposed to a government-run “single payer system”

I agree with Ms. Handel here as well, I simply note that these initiatives should not be by government force nor should government pay for them. Instead, they should happen as private businesses work to increase their competitive advantage in the free market – which is exactly how it will happen, if government would simply get out of the way.

‘Budget’:

We begin to get a lot of anecdotes but very few plans.

One of the first actions Ms. Handel claims as part of her current job was

Streamlining operations in all agency divisions; implementing proven business principles; and making significant cuts to her agency’s budget.

I’m sorry, but Austin Scott said it best on this one, when he said “the budget cuts that she talks about making are cuts that quite honestly have been handed down by the Legislature due to the economic situation that we’re in.” Had Ms. Handel began these cuts when the current recession was on the horizon rather than something we were living through, she might could take the credit – and I welcome her or someone from her campaign providing proof that this indeed happened. But as it stands now, Ms. Handel was simply following orders when cutting her budget.

Implementing zero-based budgeting, which required division directors to justify all expenditures from scratch each year and prevented them from merely seeking budget increases.

As I noted here in regards to Senator Shafer’s Zero Based Budgeting bill, I like that concept due to its potential to cut waste. I also applaud Ms. Handel for implementing it in her office voluntarily.

Establishing the agency’s first Office of Inspector General to oversee all the inspectors and investigators and cross train them across the Elections, Professional Licensing, and Securities divisions.

In other words, Ms. Handel increased the size of government bureaucracy. However, I see nowhere on her Issues page where she says she actually wants small government or that she wants to shrink government, so at least she isn’t lying to us and claiming she will do one thing when she hasn’t done it in her present job.

Ordering an audit of state-registered businesses. The audit found that 20 percent of entities registered with the state no longer existed. Her office also collected $3 million in late renewal fees from corporations in arrears.

First, I don’t feel that any organization should have to register with any governmental agency in order to conduct business. So I object to that whole purpose of the Secretary of State’s office. That said, while Ms. Handel makes no mention of working to get those laws repealed, she was working within the law and actually managed to both help enforce the law and reduce the unneeded data her office had. So I will at least give her credit for that, even though I feel that purpose of her office should not exist.

Cutting in half the number of agency employees who held state purchasing credit cards, cutting the spending limit from $5,000 to $500 and requiring purchase orders and reviews of each expenditure. As a result, expenditures of taxpayer dollars have decreased 50 percent.

This also sounds like something I remember hearing about the General Assembly handing down as well, but I could be wrong. If I am wrong and this was something Ms. Handel did of her own initiative, I do once again applaud her effort here.

Installing GPS tracking devices on all Secretary of State’s Office inspector and investigator vehicles and making sure they were on the job for Georgians and not running personal errands. … She also prohibited investigators from taking their state cars home with them, incurring further savings.

People that have read this site very long might expect me to come out against Ms. Handel on this one, but I see it as government property that should be used responsibly and not the invasion of privacy issue that some might think I would see here. Because of this, I actually once again applaud Ms. Handel’s efforts to reduce unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer money. I further applaud Ms. Handel’s ban on employees taking state-owned cars home with them, as this is both a financial and legal liability that the State would be better served by avoiding altogether.

‘Government’:

As of this writing the only things Ms. Handel has is the following statement reiterating her campaign slogan:

For those who say there’s no more fat to cut in government, I say, “Bring it on.”

I completely agree with her that there is a LOT of fat to cut in government. In fact, I probably see a lot more than she does. But I’d still like to see more details here.