There's an old saying: “The best government is the one that governs the least.” And if there is evidence for this proposition, it is the federal government's efforts in infrastructure development. In fact, I built more when I was a kid playing with Lincoln logs and Lego blocks than the federal government does through its multibillion-dollar projects.
For example, consider the government's plan three years ago to install thousands of miles of fiber optic cable. The goal of this $65 billion effort was to bring high-speed internet to all of America. (I mean, anyone can watch porn online.) And how many people are still hooking up today, three years later?
zero.
In fact, “not a single project is underway,” says investigative journalist John Stossel in a new video report.
Government mainly builds debt and regulatory walls
How is this possible? “Governments aren't very good at building things,” Stossel explains. “As Milton Friedman said, “Few people spend other people's money as carefully as they use their own.'' Politicians have wasted money using other people's money.”
“Private companies installed miles of cable, but government officials were intent on getting broadband to the right people,” Stossel continued. “Boys, girls, people of color, people who live in rural America,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo can be heard saying in the video. Additionally, Stossel said, “Aging individuals, prisoners, LGBTQ people. Companies that need money to build broadband will need to hire certain people.”
In other words, the government said it wants to provide high-speed internet. But it was more interested in influencing social engineering and placating special interests through discrimination.
This is also not new. The late Professor Walter E. Williams pointed out several years ago that states are always the worst perpetrators of group discrimination. Eighty years ago, the government discriminated against blacks and other minorities. In contrast, the private sector will hire from such groups much more easily. Currently, the government discriminates against white men and favors blacks and other minorities. The only constant?
Engaging in unfair discrimination can be costly for private companies. If you don't hire based on economic imperatives, you may be sacrificing lower-cost or higher-skilled employees.
The government pays no price for discrimination. Civil servants receive the same salary regardless of salary.
One day late and one dollar short — after spending billions.
Woke discrimination is just the beginning of how a lack of accountability breeds social engineering frivolity (and illegality). Companies also have to embrace all the “right” reasons to win government contracts, such as climate change and censorship. “There are a lot of companies that can actually do this,” Strive Asset Management's Matt Cole can be heard saying in the video. But “they say, 'We can't do this because of the restrictions.'” So they just walk away. ”
Of course, “eventually, the government will probably succeed in deploying broadband,” Stossel added. “But by then, thanks to satellite internet like Starlink, this hard-to-install cable may be completely unnecessary. Starlink already exists and will cost much less.”
“They can literally do it today,” Cole replies to the above. “In the coming months, these people will have devices installed in their homes and will have high-speed internet access.”
User “Tim” proves this in X based on Stossel's report. “I've been waiting for high-speed internet in my home for over 10 years,” he said. “Starlink finally provided a real solution.” Now, he says, it's “too late” for cable services to capture his business.
So why haven't Biden administration officials embraced Starlink? First, they argued that they were not demonstrating the necessary capabilities. When this later turned out to be false, the government claimed it was rejecting the company on the grounds that it was a monopoly. (By the way, isn't the federal government a kind of monopoly?) But what is the real reason?
“They don't want to give money to Elon Musk,” Stossel said.
When the president changes, the pattern changes.
But that could change now that Musk's friend, President Trump, is preparing to take back power. But while Mr. Musk may have good intentions, Mr. Stossel points out that letting the government choose winners and losers is a bad principle.
Let's also consider how bad this phenomenon has become. Musk said before the election that if Kamala Harris and the Democrats won, he would be finished. He was talking about how their efforts to destroy his business would intensify just because they hated his politics. Is this the American way for the government to target companies that don't appease the regime's agenda?
In fact, this is actual fascism (“private” sector control rather than government ownership), exactly what our left continually accuses our opponents of embodying.
The government has zero batting average.
Unfortunately, the government's outrage goes far beyond the fibre-optic cable fiasco. Stossel also reported (all quotes are from others):
In fact, politicians have a bad track record when deciding what to build. They poured billions of dollars into high-speed rail. Fifteen years later, it still hasn't happened. They lost $500 million on Solyndra. Almost 1 billion people are trying to make synthetic fuels. Most recently, Biden's meat packing plan caused 1 million chickens to starve to death. And Biden promised the government to build “500,000 charging stations,” but two years later, how many have they built at a cost of $7 billion? Seven.
And again, the government's failure to structure things is not just a Democratic problem. Republicans worked with Democrats to extort money to build computer chip factories. …Democrats boasted about adding the words “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion!” “The Chips Act contains 19 provisions aimed at supporting minority groups.”
Mr. Cole spoke out again and explained the problems this social engineering poses. “You already have a talent problem,” he said. “Now you're looking at only being able to hire from a very small number of individuals. Then you have to make a commitment on climate change, in which case you have to hire from unions.” Then you… I won't be able to work. That is, unless you are the government.
Because then you can just raise taxes, print more money, and run deficits until the cows come home.
Doctor, please heal me
The problem is that our government, which claims to be able to provide technology to everyone and act as a puppeteer for the private sector, cannot even keep its own tech house in order. In fact, the company spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year maintaining outdated IT systems (Tweet below).
Moreover, Musk claims this software shortage is the reason the federal government doesn't even know where much of the billions of dollars it spends go.
But there is also good news, given that governments also stifle freedom through onerous laws, regulations, and mandates. Every dollar the federal government wastes is one less dollar they have available to oppress us.
Mr. Stossel's report is as follows.
