Government Needs a Sense of Responsibility

Judy Rosener argues that government can’t be run like a business because government and business are different entities requiring different methods of management (“Whether in O.C. or D.C., Government Is Not Solely a Business,” Jan. 15). She reinforces this notion by citing the failure of the S&L; industry to show that if government were run like a business, it too could fail.

I think Rosener misses the point of what is meant by “running government like a business.” There are well-run businesses just as there are well-run government organizations. The well-run ones provide customers and residents with services and goods within a framework of fiscal responsibility.

The point that Rosener missed is this: The mentality of running a business is that management must be fiscally responsible or the business fails and disappears. In most governments, only lip service is given to fiscal responsibility because politicians aren’t held fiscally responsible for mismanagement.

Furthermore, failing governments, unlike failing businesses, usually don’t disappear. It is clear that if politicians could run government with the same sense of fiscal responsibility used by successful businesses, our economy would be more stable. This would be a great step toward improving the quality of life in America.

W.J. BOWERS

Laguna Beach