San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec




San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

ELECTION: Government is not a business

By Randy Wilde, Staff Columnist

Imagine a world where the government is run like a business. This well-oiled corporate machine has a mind only for profit maximization. There’s no room for the homeless, disabled and disadvantaged — the change from their pockets has been sucked away by the giant corporate magnet. In the interest of efficiency, the mechanical administration initiates a self-destructive sequence to eliminate protections for public health, safety and the environment.

This scenario might seem ridiculous, but it’s only an election away. Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO and Republican candidate for governor, is running on a platform of “streamlining” government. She wants us to believe bringing business practices and experience to Sacramento will solve all of our problems. We all know business and government are not the same. Don’t let this would-be politician with no experience spend her way into making you think they are.

We must protect our economy’s future by reinforcing the pillars holding it up, such as education, health care and immigration policies.

But this is not Whitman’s position. Apparently she has a very short memory. It was a reckless lack of forward thinking and proper regulation that got us into this mess in the first place. She talks about hacking through the red tape as if the laws protecting our quality of life were nothing but a wrench in the corporate gears.

This red tape and public investment attract more than half of national venture capital and two-thirds of the green-tech investment to California. Thousands of jobs will be lost if Whitman succeeds in killing Assembly Bill 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which would result in reduced environmental productivity. As a deregulation fanatic, Whitman cannot accept that regulation has succeeded in stimulating private industry and creating jobs.

Then there’s government employment. Whitman’s frequent claims of bloated state employment are far from realistic. California’s government employment per capita is 27 percent below the U.S. average, ranking 48th among the states. Her plan to reduce the government workforce by 25 percent would leave 40,000 Californians unemployed. Massive layoffs and naïve hope for the miraculous appearance of millions of jobs in the private sector is hardly a practical way to increase employment. Give the corporations lots of money and hope they hire us; sounds a lot like that unpopular bailout.

Whitman also claimed the state can provide the same level of services while spending 20 percent less. Sounds too good to be true because it is. Unavoidably, many of the cuts in spending and public employees will have to come from education. California already ranks a pitiful 45th in state education spending per student and dead last in teachers per student. We’ve had enough furloughs and overcrowded classes taught by graduate students. Don’t let her pilfer what little funding our schools have left.

Upon close examination, it’s difficult not to wonder whether Whitman’s policies are more aimed at accumulating wealth in the hands of the rich than improving the quality of life of the average Californian. We’ve had the “Terminator” in office for seven years. We don’t need another corporate-manufactured robot touting tired, impractical and unfair policies.

—Randy Wilde is an international security and conflict resolution junior.

—The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.

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San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913
ELECTION: Government is not a business