By John A. Charles, Jr.
This week marks the inauguration of President Trump and the opening of the Oregon legislative session. With new opportunities ahead, policy makers should think hard about why government exists.
The most basic thing we expect from the government is protection of lives and property. Unfortunately, many elected officials find this boring. They are obsessed with electric vehicles, fossil fuels, plastic packaging, iconic fish species, preferred pronouns, equal outcomes, and dozens of other boutique issues. They prefer working on passion projects rather than protecting public safety.
It’s not working.
Looking at the Executive Orders issued by President Trump on his first day in office, it’s refreshing to see how many of them are designed to simply get government out of the way. That’s why he was elected.
Of course we won’t see any such directives issued by Gov. Kotek. She’s a believer in central planning. But even she knows that most Oregon cities are over-taxed and over-regulated.
Elected officials in Oregon are trying to do too much, for the wrong reasons. A great New Year’s Resolution would be to do less and do it better.
John A. Charles, Jr. is President and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.
