To make up for a budget shortfall Connecticut governor Jodi Rell has announced a list of spending cuts. An office with the name of "Permanent commission on the satus of women" is one item proposed for elimination. What does this office actually do? Its difficult to say, but Teresa Yonger who is from this office says without it we will "eliminate the states accountability to the women of the state". In the good old days the argument would be "if you eliminate the office women will die in the streets at the hands of men." With a woman as governor the best way to account for the status of women is to set up a phone number with a message that says "women of Connecticut are currently in first place. Please check back after the next election cycle."
The state has a department of consumer protection. Apparently over the years this hasn’t been enough. At some point the legislature had to do more to “protect consumers” so it enacted something called “The Office of Consumer Council”. The consumer protection is an office that protects consumers from bad business practices but the office of consumer council protected consumers from lax consumer protection agency practices. Faced with elimination Rep Robert Megna (D) says "electric rates increased by 100% over ten years, now is the greatest argument to have an advocate for a rate payer" no it’s not. The argument ought to be that since rates have increased unabated with a consumer advocate, it is proof that the office is a waste of time and money.
Another function slated for elimination is the “Office of the Healthcare Advocate”. One argument against eliminating this office is made by Sharon Hines an oncology nurse who fought cancer. During the battle her insurance company denied her request for a cancer drug her doctor approved. The Middletown office of the healthcare advocate stepped in and ruled in her favor. If this office could do that then why not a simple court of law? Insurance policies are contracts, if one party violates the terms then go to court. Or how about the consumer protection agency or maybe the state insurance commission. Are the normal channels so dysfunctional that layers of government control have to be created to enforce contractual agreements? Hines is grateful of the service of the advocates office and argues for the office the old fashion way saying "The Office of the Healthcare Advocate is there when people are most vulnerable and in some cases it may be a matter of life and death." If it were a matter of life and death why didn’t Ms. Hines simply pay for the drug herself without the insurance compensation, if they were wrong are the normal channels of enforcing contracts so inept that they could get away with it?
Conservatives argue the cause of limited government and free market solutions in the abstract. They could win these arguments on radio, television and periodicals and then win the debate through ratings and readership. However the battle is lost because it is the advocacy groups who are in the trenches day in day out getting legislatures to allocate funds to "fight" for women, children, healthcare, patients, education, consumers, and family “issues.” This is the bread and butter of politicians of all stripes. Is there any such thing as a conservative advocacy group? Could we expect politicians to promise to do nothing at all and let society without government interference to solve all of our pressing problems? Conservatism wins the ideological battles but loses the battle of the budgets.
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