BY RUSSELL TURNER
MORE EXPERIENCE NEEDED
As I grow older I have grown to appreciate the experiences I have had throughout my life. Granted some of my actions on certain circumstances could have been better, but even though some actions may be embarrassing they helped me grow as an individual. As I watch the circus happening in our state and federal governments my experiences enable me to separate the fantasy from the facts.
I have run my own businesses for the majority of my working life. I understand the roadblocks that excessive regulations can put on small businesses. In my business I have been forced to obtain several licenses just to be able to work for the public. In addition to paying a yearly license fee I also am required to pay for and attend continuing education, even though I have been operating my business for over 40 years. For many, many years cities and certain areas required professional people to have a license to operate, then more recently the state of Oklahoma decided to get into the action. In addition to having to have a local license now we must also pay for a state license. In my opinion the law passed by the Oklahoma legislature was a means to obtain more money for an expanding government and a way to prevent competition for bigger firms; but we were told that it was for the protection of the public. There were boards created that would oversee the various occupations which created an apprentice program and a competency test before you could go into the business. While all of that rhetoric sounds noble, maybe our elected leaders need to take some of their own medicine.
Many years ago one of my mentors told me that government would work a whole lot better if there were a requirement for a political candidate running for public office to have operated a small business and made a payroll. When my mentor told me that I was young man at the beginning of my career, I was fortunate to have someone who cared enough about our country to share his experience and wisdom. While we see all of the problems in our government, we really have no one to blame but ourselves. When we have an electrician come and work on our house we demand that they have the proper licenses and insurance before we even let them in the door. We will usually ask if they are familiar with the problem we have and if they have done that kind of work before. For some strange reason when it comes to politics too many of our citizens are not concerned with the experiences the candidates have. How can someone know to squeeze the most out of a dollar if they haven’t had to do it in the private sector? There is nothing that will get your attention faster than having bills and a payroll to make when you have slow time.
There is a whole lot of difference between working for a salary each week and having to making a living riding the wave of a fluctuating economy. There are some very good lawmakers in our legislature, but I have noticed that the good ones usually come from the small business sector and they bring the experiences necessary to be good legislators. Until we voters stop being influenced by slick marketing campaigns and start demanding that our lawmakers have the background and experiences, we will continue to have an out of control government.
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