We know now that the state’s Texas Youth Commission was obscenely managed. The Texas Lottery was a scandal ridden mess a while back. The abuses of the Children’s Health Insurance Program are a lesson in lunacy. Name a government agency, and it’s been scandal plagued, mismanaged, or worse. And those are things legislators are supposedly elected to manage!

 

So it is nothing short of stupefying to find that the Republican-controlled Legislature seems to think they can accurately manage the private business of business better than the business owners. Whether it is telling a business owner she cannot allow employees or customers to smoke in the business (private property rights), or trying to undo a billion-dollar private corporate takeover (the TXU/KKR deal), legislators just seem to be itching to find ways to interfere in the private marketplace.

 

Call it a hunch, but something tells me you manage your business a lot better than the state legislature has managed TYC. And I bet you know the needs of your customers, clients and colleagues better than the lawyers who sit in the Texas House and Senate.

 

Whether it is legal conduct in a place of business, or deciding when to buy or sell a business, the state legislature shouldn’t be involved. The marketplace does a better job of ensuring fairness, accuracy, profitability, consumer protection, and general happiness, than lawmakers in Austin.

Michael Quinn Sullivan

Michael Quinn Sullivan is the publisher of Texas Scorecard. He is a native Texan, a graduate of Texas A&M, and an Eagle Scout. Previously, he has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine contributor, Capitol Hill staffer, and think tank vice president. Michael and his wife have three adult children, a son-in-law, and a dog. Michael is the author of three books, including "Reflections on Life and Liberty."

RELATED POSTS