privatization in Indiana: it's not just for Republicans anymore

A great article from Brian Howey on the history of privatization efforts in Indiana and the relevance to the contemporary debate between Gov. Mitch Daniels and some of his Democratic opponents.

Privatization is an important concept. We often think of the role of government as a yes/no question: Should the government by involved or not? But if that decision is a yes, vital questions remain: for example, at what level(s) of government should the effort be funded and operated?

Should garbage services be provided by the private sector or by the government? If the government, should it be dealt with at the federal, state, or local level? If the private sector, should the revenues be collected from consumers of the service or from the government through taxpayers? Should the private sector be allowed to compete (as in most other markets) or should the government dictate that there will be a single/monopoly provider (and make that choice).

How about food for the poor? If the government is going to be involved, should it be federal, state, or local? Should the government operate farms, food processors and grocery stores to get food to the poor-- or should they give vouchers to the poor so that they are empowered to obtain groceries within a competitive market?

How about education? Should the government produce schooling services-- or empower the poor (and middle class) to obtain those services within a competitive private sector? Where should the funding come from-- local, state, federal?

These are vital (and often overlooked) questions. In particular, everyone seems to think a lot of things should be a federal issue. Should people in Vermont pay for a museum in Kansas?
Should local police be hired through local (or perhaps state) monies-- or should we send our money to Washington so they can take a cut and send it back to us (with strings attached) so we can hire police?

The government should not be involved in nearly so much-- and where it is involved, it'd be much better to have its activity at the state and local levels.