Taking care of Business Government Style

I was driving yesterday on a highway I usually don't have occasion to take. Traffic was crawling when it moved at all and it gave me a few minutes to observe some of the advertisements along the road. One caught my eye in particular.

The sign, put up by our State government and endorsed by our city and federal government, said: "This section available. Adopt a Highway to Beautify."

Keeping in mind that I love gardening, I was floored by the sign for many reasons. First, if the government truly believes that the highways need to be "prettier," let them use the money they have already taken in taxes and do the prettification themselves. Second, if traffic patterns actually worked in our city then at 55 miles per hour no motorist would have the time to look at the flowers planted. If they did slow down to look, the flowers would be creating a traffic nuisance. Three, the word adoption bothered me. There are thousands of children in the adoption systems in need of loving and nurturing homes. Most won't find those homes. Do you see billboards and advertisements all over asking people to adopt these children? No. Our government is wasting our money in asking people to adopt highways instead.

Who thought up this idea? How many hours of government-paid work went into putting the plan into affect? I'm sure this sign is not the only one in the city or state. How much did the government that is always complaining that there is not enough money for essential services and programs that actually help people waste on this program?

Someone once said that we get the type of government we deserve. By this is meant that if all you do is complain to your mother/friend/neighbor about the government then nothing will change. The place to lodge a complaint is with our elected officials. I, for one, sent off an email of complaint to everyone that represents me in government. All it took was a visit to the state government web site and the city government web site. The federal government is next on my list.

Our local newspaper once ran a story in which our Borough President was quoted as saying that a statue put up on the boardwalk here in Staten Island "only" cost $120,000. Yup, a bargain. And just what else could that money have bought that would be of better use for the people of this city? Think of what you could do with that kind of money. I sure wish our government would think as well. The irony here is that a few months after the statue was put up vandals defaced it. And our government spent more money in fixing it back up.

The members of Klal are also citizens of this country. They have a responsibility to care about what goes on in government. It is not the government's money that is being spent foolishly--it is yours. Just how long does it take to send an email, or mail a letter or make a phone call? The next move is yours.