Most Outrageous Government Waste; T. Schatz

Last year, the National Endowment for the Humanities spent $4.2 million to con duct a nebulous "National Conversation on Pluralism and Identity. " Obviously, talk radio wasn't considered good enough. The Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency channeled some $11 million to psy chics who might provide special insights about various foreign threats. This was the disappointing "Stargate" program. Mr. Schatz is president of Citizens Against Government Waste. The Department of Education spent $34 million supposedly helping Americans be come better shoppers and homemakers. Wasn't it about time? The federal government proposed spend ing $14 million for a new Army Museum, although there already were 47 Army Mu seums around the country . We helped stop that idea. Dubious government spending schemes abound since bureaucrats play with other people's money. For example, the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) spent $70,029to see if the degu, a diurnal South American rodent, can help us better under stand jet lag ... they spent $77,826to study "Coping with Change in Czechoslovakia"

... $100,271 to see if volunteering is good for older people ... $124,910 to reduce "School Phobia" in children ... $161,913 to study' 'Israeli reactions to SCUD Attacks during the Gulf War" ... and $187,042to study the quality of life in Hawaii. Over the years, political wrangling twists the most noble-sounding government pro grams beyond recognition. For example, the Social Security Administration's $25 billion a year Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Almost 250,000 children qualify for SSI checks because they can't partici pate in "age appropriate activities." Worse, thousands of prisoners get SSI checks re lating to their alleged disabilities-costing taxpayers about $20 million a year. 444 The Foundation for Economic Education Irvington~on-Hudson, New York 10533 Tel. (914) 591-7230 Fax (914) 591-8910 E-mail: freeman@westnet.com June 1996 Inscrutable Freedom I n every age and in every country, there are two kinds of people - the lovers of freedom and the devotees of power.

The former like to pursue their own good in their own way without infringing on the equal freedom of others. The devotees of power love to exercise control over others, and especially to command over the body politic. Both kinds wax eloquent about freedom which, to them, has very different meanings and connotations. The lovers of individual freedom care fully delineate the scope of personal auton omy and absence of institutional restraint. They are concerned about their religious, political, and economic freedoms. Their most fundamental freedom of all is the personal freedom to move about, to come and go as they please without restraint. Most Americans are accustomed to this basic freedom; to them, it is a great writ of liberty, anchored in the Constitution: "The Privilege of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebel lion or invasion the public safety may require it" (Article I, Section 9).

Religiousfreedom,that is, the freedom to believe in a divine power as the creator and ruler of the universe and the right to worship with people of one's own choos ing, was nonexistent during the Middle Ages. Before the great powers of Europe were willing to grant it, they waged numerous bloody wars - eight in France alone (1562-1598) and the bloodiest of all European wars, the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Exhausted, ravished, and depopulated, the countries gradually learned to tolerate their religious differ ences. In the United States, the First Amendment to the Constitution expressly affirms the freedom of religion: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establish ment of religion, or prohibit the free exer cise thereof." Yet, in recent years, in the name of separation of church and state, American courts have sought to purge reli gion from all aspects of public life. And public education seeks to replace religion with" statism" which elevates government to the center of human concerns and makes it the source of economic care and bounty.

Politicalfreedom,that is, the right to vote and hold public office for all members of society was virtually unknown before the nineteenth century. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution guaran teed "political freedom to all citizens regardless of race, color, or previous con dition of servitude." The Nineteenth Amendment extended the right to ~ote to all citizens regardless of gender. Despite these Constitutional assurances many Americans were denied basic political rights until the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s and 70s.

Economicfreedom,which is the individ ual right to pursue one's own economic goals and objectives as long as no harm comes to others, is severely limited in most parts of the world. It is always ringed about by envy and covetousness which invite breaches of the peace and denial of economic freedom by people in power. Economic freedom is an easy prey to polit ical force. It is the first thing that is lost when tyranny advances. When the devotees of power speak of freedom they usually mean the freedom of the body politic, especially of its leaders holding the reins of government. Their concept of freedom is holistic and collec tivistic. Hitler used to discourse about the freedom of the German people, Stalin about the freedom of the Soviet society, and Castro about the freedom of Cuba from imperialistic U.S.A. All forms of tyranny build on some collectivistic notion of freedom. The concept of freedom most popular in the United States connotes the freedomfrom wantand poverty,from poor housing, ill health, and poor education. It is an income concept based on entitlement and redistri bution of income and wealth by govern ment force. President Franklin D.