Guests - Donald Wilkie, Nate Foster, Betsy Smith

Freedom Revealed: Understanding Government Waste and the Power of Competition

Donald Wilkie, author of "Freedom Revealed: A Simple Elegant System," brings a fresh perspective to the age-old concept of freedom. Unlike the thousands of philosophical books on the subject, Wilkie approaches freedom as a mechanical system, making it clearer and more accessible.

"I am the first person to understand why government wastes—with the possible exception of Franklin, of course," Wilkie claims. His explanation is straightforward yet profound: "Government waste exists simply because there's no competition. Government is singular."

Wilkie illustrates this concept with a seesaw analogy. On one end sits competition, on the other waste. As competition rises, waste falls; as competition decreases, waste inevitably increases. In government—where competition is nonexistent—waste becomes inevitable.

"Elon Musk is proving this with a vengeance," Wilkie notes, referencing Musk's recent exposures of government spending inefficiencies. "You get angry and happy all at the same time when he reveals we've been spending billions on obscure, ridiculous studies or giving money to governments worldwide—sometimes for decades."

The fundamental difference, according to Wilkie, lies in the mechanics of marketplaces versus government. "The marketplace is a competitive system operating just like nature. Environmentalists say there's no waste in nature. What drove it out? Competition drove waste out of nature, and the marketplace operates the same way."

Businesses couldn't exist if they operated like government, as the marketplace would automatically eliminate them. Government, however, faces no such constraint. "Who do you replace government with? You can't, so government is going to waste. They have to."

Wilkie believes President Trump is "doing everything right" by expanding the marketplace, cutting regulations, and limiting government. "He doesn't understand the concept that there is no competition in government, but he's doing everything right."

America's founding represents a pivotal moment in governmental philosophy. "At the founding of the United States, we were the first country in history to purposefully work to limit government," explains Wilkie. "We really didn't know if it would work, but it was a resounding success. By 1860, about 70 years after our founding, we were probably the most prosperous country in the world."

The key to this prosperity? "We let the marketplace work. Competition eliminated waste, creating prosperity, and government was limited so it couldn't waste all the money the marketplace was making."

Applying Competition in Modern Governance

Wilkie advocates for decentralizing government functions to introduce competition. Take education, for example: "When you talk about disbanding the Department of Education, education goes back to 50 states. Those 50 states will compete with each other to produce the best educational system."

He applies the same principle to welfare: "I advocate getting rid of all federal welfare and making it all state welfare. Then you have 50 different laboratories figuring out the best way to administer the welfare state."

Competition, Wilkie argues, is the foundation we've forgotten to teach. "In our schools, we don't teach competition—we avoid teaching it, which is silly. If you've been in the marketplace, you know you have to compete. It's how the world works."

The implications are political as well as economic. "When you understand these foundations, we won't have systems where 50% of people vote for big government because it's just a road to poverty."

Benjamin Franklin: The Mechanical Philosopher

Wilkie's fascination with Benjamin Franklin stems from Franklin's unique approach to understanding freedom and competition. "Franklin absorbed me. I had no idea what to look for when I originally asked myself 'what is freedom?' I thought maybe Jefferson, maybe Madison, but the more I read of Franklin, the more I was consumed by the man."

Franklin's genius, according to Wilkie, was in his method. "He never wrote out exactly everything he thought. His technique was to put little markers out there for the reader to understand and put together themselves. The little sayings in Poor Richard's Almanack were all hints on his philosophy of how the world works."

What distinguished Franklin was his scientific approach to society. "Franklin was a tremendous scientist who always wanted to know how things worked. His experiments with electricity and lightning astounded the world because prior to that, everybody thought lightning was God's tool to display his wrath."

Franklin's revelation that lightning was electricity challenged conventional thinking. "They couldn't believe a commoner or printer stole lightning from God's hand. What Franklin was teaching was that nature works mechanically—if you study it, you can understand it."

Wilkie explains that Franklin extended this mechanical thinking to economics: "Franklin took trade down to the absolute roots. He said, 'If trade creates prosperity between nations, why doesn't trade between human beings create prosperity?' We trade all the time without realizing it. That's what the marketplace is—where all voluntary transactions take place. All those tiny transactions pile up to create prosperity."

The Importance of Understanding Systems

Wilkie emphasizes the need to think mechanically rather than philosophically. "People in business understand that you have to think mechanically all the time because things don't happen out of the blue. You're always asking, 'Why did that happen?'"

He contrasts this with the operation of government: "In government, you have people in their cubicles—I'm not saying they're good or bad people, but they operate like everyone else would. Bureaucracy has been around forever and is the same in Russia as it is here, in China, in France in the 1700s. But you can't get details right in government; all you can do is make broad pronouncements."

One critical insight concerns pricing: "The only way to create pricing—to determine what things cost—is through competition. Government has no idea what something should cost; only competition can tell you."

Wilkie applies this to healthcare: "Government wants to run healthcare, but they're a non-competitive system. They don't have competition, so they don't know pricing, there is no innovation, and it can't happen. The marketplace exists to provide goods and services, and healthcare is a good and service."

Understanding the difference between competitive and non-competitive systems is vital for informed citizenship. "If everybody understood how freedom really works—the difference between government and the marketplace—no one would vote for big government again because they know it's only going to waste. Why would you throw your money away?"

He concludes with an important distinction: "Government was never designed to fix problems. We have to have it, but we've got to watch it all the time because all it's going to do is waste."

Tucson's Police Department Funding Crisis

Nate Foster, president of the Tucson Police Protective League, provides insights into the ongoing proposition 414 tax vote in Tucson. The proposed sales tax increase—which would make Tucson the highest taxed city in Arizona—comes at a time when the police department is severely understaffed.

"Based on the city's recent decision to increase healthcare costs a day after they had a huge budget town hall with all city departments without saying a word about it, I'm assuming that's a reaction due to the fact that the tax is probably not going to pass," Foster observes.

This healthcare cost increase impacts city employees significantly. "If you're remaining on the HMO plan, which many people like for security, they're going to pay more and their deductibles are going up. Everything's getting more expensive."

Foster sees this as telling: "I read that decision by the city as a kind of tell that the sales tax numbers aren't looking very good, and they're starting to really look at the budget and consider what needs to be done moving forward. Historically, the city has balanced their budget on the backs of its employees."

The irony isn't lost on Foster: "It was ironic that they gave themselves all big raises and couldn't do that for their employees. It's in the 'let them eat cake' category—taking care of yourself first and none of your employees that actually cause the city to run."

Foster explains how the police department has deteriorated: "Going back several years, we were the top agency in the region. We had all sorts of different units officers could be part of, and we were very proactive in addressing crime. We didn't wait for crime to happen; we went out and did things to prevent crime."

That approach has vanished. "That has been taken away completely. We are 100% a reactionary department now. Proactive policing is very little to non-existent. The officers we do have are slammed with calls—not just general calls for service, but going from emergency situation to emergency situation."

This reality takes a toll: "It has a huge tax on their mental health and longevity in the career. They're going to get burnt out quickly because they're seeing so many traumatic incidents and high-stress situations."

Foster argues that Proposition 414 isn't the solution: "There's not a lot of budgetary transparency with the city. They need to be audited so people can see where their money is being spent. At a recent budget hearing, they downgraded the deficit from $24 million to $13 million—they just found $11 million. I'm sure if they really looked, they could have a neutral budget with no deficits."

He points to wasteful spending: "If they got rid of that free bus system that is now a major contributor to our crime problem—they're now fencing the bus stops to make them look like maximum security prisons—that would more than cover the cost of the deficit."

Foster's message to voters is clear: "Vote no on 414. The city needs to be responsible for funding our police department properly. If the tax passes or doesn't pass, that shouldn't absolve them of the responsibilities of properly funding the police department."

Law Enforcement Under Fire

Betsy Brantner Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association, discusses the violence directed at police officers nationwide. "Over the weekend, we had two Newark, New Jersey police officers make a traffic stop, and before Detective Ascona could get out of his patrol vehicle, a 14-year-old gangbanger exited his vehicle, executed the detective where he sat, and then shot his partner who is still in the hospital."

This was part of a disturbing trend: "That was just two of the five police officers shot in an 18-hour period this weekend." Smith emphasizes the youth of both the victim and perpetrator: "Detective Ascona was only 26 years old, and the offender was 14. Two lives forever changed."

The broader context is alarming: "There are 36,000 different street gangs in this country. We've been hearing a lot about Tren de Agua and MS-13, but we have plenty of domestic homegrown street gangs as well."

Smith highlights the toll on law enforcement this year: "It's March, early March, and we've already had 15 police officers die in the line of duty—10 of those were murdered."

She connects this national crisis to Tucson's situation: "I want people to understand how heroic men like Nate Foster are. Not only has he dedicated his life to fighting crime and helping his community, but he also has to fight the ridiculous bureaucracy, anti-cop politicians, and the lies of this sham tax law 414 that they're trying to shove down the throats of people here in Tucson."

Smith warns about the consequences of underfunding police: "When you don't properly fund your police department, they end up short-staffed and short of equipment. Plus, they end up quite frankly demoralized and turn their backs on proactive policing because they know they will not be supported."

She also addresses the issue of prosecutors failing to follow through: "Around this nation, about 84% of crime is pleaded down from the original charges. The 14-year-old who murdered a police officer this weekend has been charged, but let's face it—it's New Jersey, he's a juvenile, we don't know that any of those charges are going to stick."

Smith adds another security concern: "An armed adult male was shot by US Secret Service personnel on Sunday morning outside the White House. This man drove to Washington DC from North Manchester, Indiana, a town of 5,000. He was known to be a suicidal, emotionally disturbed person, armed and possibly attempting suicide by cop, wanting to do it in a blaze of glory involving President Trump."

She connects this to ongoing security issues: "This weekend, NORAD had to scramble jets over Mar-a-Lago where President Trump was because there was a small aircraft invading the airspace. We still don't have all the answers for that."

Smith concludes with a call for change in Tucson: "Look what President Trump has done in less than 60 days to change this country—we could do that in Tucson. Voters have the power to change the city of Tucson."