Friday, June 24, 2005
Public Hypocrisy
It’s interesting to me that whenever the government imposes some new regulatory law, it tries to extend it to as many private individuals and businesses as possible -- yet always sees fit to exempt itself.
But to me, even if one were to accept the validity of preventive law (which I obviously don’t) this is completely backwards. For example, in the case of Sarbox, as a private investor I have, and have always had, the simple solution of not investing in a company if I’m unsure of its accounting practices or if I have any other doubts about them. No need for the government to assign independent auditors, as I’m not forced to give any private company or individual my hard-earned money. On the other hand, if I say: “I think the EPA has a history of poor budgeting and it seems to lack internal controls, so this year I’ll hold back that portion of my taxes which goes to fund them”, the government throws me in jail! Given that I’m forced to fund these agencies, it seems to me that it is much more important that they be policed by independent auditors and forced to jump through hoops to prove that they are using the public’s money properly, than it ever is to make private companies and individuals do it. Just a thought for our representatives in Washington….
But to me, even if one were to accept the validity of preventive law (which I obviously don’t) this is completely backwards. For example, in the case of Sarbox, as a private investor I have, and have always had, the simple solution of not investing in a company if I’m unsure of its accounting practices or if I have any other doubts about them. No need for the government to assign independent auditors, as I’m not forced to give any private company or individual my hard-earned money. On the other hand, if I say: “I think the EPA has a history of poor budgeting and it seems to lack internal controls, so this year I’ll hold back that portion of my taxes which goes to fund them”, the government throws me in jail! Given that I’m forced to fund these agencies, it seems to me that it is much more important that they be policed by independent auditors and forced to jump through hoops to prove that they are using the public’s money properly, than it ever is to make private companies and individuals do it. Just a thought for our representatives in Washington….
