Make Government Competent Again
FL Gov. Ron DeSantis is regarded as the executive who ‘gets stuff done’
It was a primer on government competence and managing a crisis.
It should give Americans pause to consider if they could have this kind of efficiency with everything the federal government does. Perhaps the mantra some Americans proclaim should not be Make America Great Again, but Make Government Competent Again.
Incompetence in government happens so frequently that it’s laughable and sad. The Pew Research Center released a study Wednesday revealing “just 4% of U.S. adults say the political system is working extremely or very well,” and “positive views of many governmental and political institutions are at historic low.”
Hurricane Idalia hit the Big Bend of the Florida panhandle on Aug. 30 as a 125 mph Category 3 hurricane.
Two days prior to Idalia’s landfall. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign for president to deal with a shooting in Jacksonville and the hurricane. In the waiting for this huge tropical storm were first responders for search and rescue, utility crews to restore electricity, second shelters for people and families who may need them, and fuel to prevent gouging.
He had been through in 2022 when Category 4 Hurricane Ian struck Sanibel Island near Fort Myers. Florida had to make swift repairs to the Sanibel Island Causeway, which took damage from Ian. Piles of gravel and dirt created an emergency solution to allow utility trucks and emergency vehicles on the island.
To get a taste of Hurricane Idalia, consider the Associated Press report on it:
‘All hell broke loose,’ said Belond Thomas of Perry, a mill town located just inland from the Big Bend region where Idalia came ashore. Thomas fled with her family and some friends to a motel, thinking it would be safer than riding out the storm at home. But as Idalia’s eye passed over about 8:30 a.m., a loud whistling noise pierced the air and the high winds ripped the building’s roof off, sending debris down on her pregnant daughter, who was lying in bed. Fortunately, she was not injured. ‘It was frightening,’ Thomas said. ‘Things were just going so fast. ... Everything was spinning.’
Initial reports out of Florida the day Hurricane Idalia made landfall revealed “565,000 utility customers had lost electricity at some point during and/or after the storm passed.”
Several things unfolded in just a matter of a few days.
Within 48 hours of Hurricane Idalia making landfall, trailers were being moved into Horseshoe Beach to provide shelter for those without it.
Within 48 hours, 476,000 electric customers had their electricity restored.
By Sept. 4, Labor Day, 96 percent of electricity customers without power had their service restored.
Newsmax talk show host Greta Van Susteren said, “ ‘Listening to [Ron DeSantis]…it’s quite amazing how well Florida is responding’ to Hurricane Idalia.”
TownHall.com Managing Editor Spencer Brown said, “It’s hard to deny that Gov. DeSantis is putting on a masterclass in how to handle and lead through a crisis.”
This is not something that only DeSantis does well. Unfortunately, the federal government is known more for what it does with striking incompetence.
DeSantis is regarded as the governor “who gets stuff done.” He is very mission focused on all things the government is supposed to do, not just during a crisis. Yet, government bungling gets attention.
Remember Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans as a Category 5 monster storm in late August 2005? More than 1,800 people died in a hurricane marked with local, state, and federal incompetence, capped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That was the Bush administration.
During the Obama years, Americans witnessed the bungled rollout of healthcare.gov, the website for Americans to get information and sign up for the Affordable Care Act passed during the Obama administration.
At the local level, last Christmas Buffalo, N.Y. experienced a nasty blizzard that came with Category 1 hurricane-force winds. It dumped more than 3 feet of snow, and some places received more than 50 inches of snow. In the days after the storm, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz criticized snow removal efforts in the city of Buffalo.
One would think a city like Buffalo that had the Blizzard of 1977 would have figured out snow removal a long time ago, under any circumstance.
Government incompetence tends to make citizens cynical. It tends to cause people who play by the rules to be paralyzed with low expectations from government at all levels. It destroys credibility, public trust, and trust in constitutional government institutions, and Pew Research Center confirms that
Government incompetence manifests itself many ways (and this certainly is not a complete list) such as:
Wasted money by fraud or abuse;
Bungled services;
Lack of transparency;
Agency leaders being caught in a moment where they feel invincible or do something reckless with taxpayer dollars–not acting in the public interest;
Public officials that act in ways to reward the bureaucracy, rather than adding value;
Lack of accountability for programs that clearly do not achieve their aims; and
The lack of justice extended to powerful people who commit wrongdoing.
Americans must have higher expectations and a higher standard and demand better from all executives they elect. Don’t enable bad behavior with re-elections simply because you know someone’s name. Throw them out of office.
We’re getting the government leadership we elect. Until voters act with different priorities for candidates, we'll see far more incompetence.
When have you had enough and what will you do about it?
