free stuff really means less freedom for people

Politicians claim their bills bring us good things.

Free health care! Child care! A cellphone for all!

But government isn’t Santa Claus. Government is force.

Most every law takes away a little of our money or freedom or both.

The Heritage Foundation ranks economic freedom across the globe. The United States once ranked No. 4 in the world, but we’ve been in decline. This year we’re 25th.

“If you care about living a prosperous life, you should care about what government economic policies are,” says The Heritage Foundation’s Derrick Morgan.

The foundation ranks countries’ economic freedom based on things like rule of law, regulatory e ciency, open markets, fiscal health, etc.

The big reason the USA fell in the rankings is that Congress spends so much more money than government can squeeze out of us in taxes.

I say to Morgan, “’Free child care, free this, free that!’ That sounds good for my freedom.”

“Sooner or later, you run out of other people’s money,” Morgan responds. “More dollars chasing fewer goods leads to inflation,” and inflation leaves us less financial freedom.

In addition, politicians ban some of our choices, like future natural gas hookups and gas-powered cars. Many want to ban contraception, TikTok, guns.

And on top of that, America’s bureaucrats add thousands of regulations, most of which restrict individual freedom.

“Those are examples of our smothering government and why we

… keep dropping places,” says Morgan.

The world’s least free countries have even more smothering governments.

India ranks toward the bottom of the freedom list because Indian bureaucrats are empowered to decide whether entrepreneurs may try something new. Investors must get up to 70 di erent approvals. No wonder India stays poor.

It could be worse. The most repressed people in the world are trapped in countries at the bottom of the freedom list: Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba and, of course, North Korea.

“It’s bad in the economic sphere just as it is in the political sphere,” says Morgan. “These things reinforce each other. The freer a country is economically, the better o they are.”

Hong Kong was a great example of how economic freedom makes life better. In just 30 years, people there moved from poverty to prosperity.

It happened because Hong Kong’s British rulers enforced rule of law but put few obstacles in the way of trying new things.

That allowed free people in Hong Kong to get rich and put Hong Kong at the top of many freedom rankings.

Then the British gave Hong Kong back to China. China promised to respect Hong Kong’s open society, but a few years ago China turned Hong Kong into another Chinese police state.

So Heritage dropped Hong Kong from its list. “We got to the point where we could no longer consider them separate from Communist China, sadly,” says Morgan.

■ See STOSSEL, page A5

Tax collector fee updates proposed

Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office

The El Dorado County of Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing June 27 to consider the introduction and final passage of Ordinance 5176, which includes proposed amendments to county Ordinance Code Title 3, revenue and finance, and Title 5, business taxes, licenses and regulations, to update the treasurer-tax collector’s schedule of fees.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors meeting room, 330 Fair Lane in Placerville.

The proposed amendments will add fees to the treasurer-tax collector’s fee schedule in section 3.29.040 and the business license fee schedule in section 5.04.030 of the county ordinance code to reflect the reasonable cost of providing the specified services, such as subscription fees for access to the El Dorado County FTP site, fee to separate current year secured property tax bill or delinquent secured assessment, fee to calculate assessment for nonpayment of Transient Occupancy Tax, fees to provide duplicate copy of a TOT certificate and a business license and fee for late business license renewal.

A full and complete certified copy of the full text of the proposed ordinance is available for viewing five days before the hearing in the o ce of the clerk of the Board of Supervisors at 330 Fair Lane in Placerville. The ordinance would take e ect 30 days following its adoption.

Walters Continued from A4 “fiscal cli ” that would compel cutbacks in service or fare increases. Newsom’s budget provides virtually nothing new for transit systems, while the legislative budget would give them $5.1 billion over the next few years — a major factor in the Legislature’s markedly higher overall spending.

Another biggie is the demand of local governments for billions of dollars in ongoing aid to support homelessness programs — something that neither Newsom nor the Legislature is willing, so far, to provide. Newsom has been critical of what he calls lackluster e orts by local o cials while they say they need dependable streams of revenue to be more e ective.

Underscoring this year’s wrangling over budget details is the prospect of chronic fiscal problems in future years. In a recent report on the state’s fiscal issues, Petek projected that continuing the spending in Newsom’s 2023-24 budget to the following year would cost $30 billion more for the two-year period. Moreover, Petek projected annual deficits averaging $18 billion over the next three years.

“This means that, if the Legislature adopts the governor’s May revision proposals, the state very likely will face more budget problems over the next few years,” Petek warned.

Since the Legislature wants to spend billions more than Newsom seeks, its version would increase projected shortfalls even more.

Finally, all of the deficit-ridden budget scenarios floating around the Capitol assume that the state does not experience a recession, which some economists believe is still possible as the Federal Reserve System raises interest rates to battle inflation.

Even a moderate recession would decrease revenues by tens of billions of dollars and quickly exhaust the state’s “rainy day” reserves.

Dan Walters is a journalist and author who writes for CALmatters.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Stossel Continued from A4

The freest countries on Heritage’s list are Taiwan, Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore.

But wait! Singapore doesn’t have free speech. You can’t criticize politicians or assemble without a police permit. They recently hanged some people for selling marijuana.

“Would you want to live in Singapore?” I ask Morgan.

“Your point is a good one,” he responds. “This isn’t a measure of freedom overall. It’s a measure of economic freedom. Other freedoms are important, religious freedom ... First Amendment freedom.”

The Cato Institute’s Human Freedom Index, which ranks both economic and personal freedom, lists Switzerland, New Zealand, Estonia and Denmark as the freest countries. Singapore ranks 44th. America 23rd.

“Our point,” explains Morgan, “is really to have a data longevity to look at. Does economic freedom over time lead to freer, more prosperous, healthier and cleaner environments? It does.”

That’s something to remember next time politicians take away your choices or print more money.

“They’re going to o er you free stu ,” says Morgan. “It’s all going to sound good ... but their policies are in all likelihood going to make things worse.”

John Stossel is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”

Announcements

AL-ANON is here for you if you are bothered by someone else’s drinking. Call for meeting times. (916) 334-2970. https://sacal-anon.blogspot. comt

AMERICAN ASSOC. OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN Foothills of EDC Branch. Our mission is to advance gender equity for women & girls. Science and Math Camp Scholarships, programs & interest groups. Leave voicemail for Laurel (530) 417-7737 or Sara (530) 417-7138 eldorado-ca.aauw.net

El DORADO COUNTY AMATEUR

RADIO CLUB Dedicated to all aspects of ham radio. Meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month at the El Dorado Sheriff’s office, 200 Industrial Drive, Placerville, 6:30 pm. Visitors and non-hams welcome. Info at www.edcarc.net

LEARN & PLAY CRIBBAGE

Cribbage is a fun, fast paced game that will surely keep you on your toes! **All skill levels **Learn to play by ACC Rules (American Cribbage Congress) **Beginner instruction available **Compete in weekly Cribbage tournaments. Call 916-768-4452 for more information. Gold Country Cribbers play Wednesday afternoon 4:30 pm at Steve’s Pizza, 3941 Park Dr., El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762

Ready for real change?

CELEBRATE RECOVERY meets Wednesday nights at 6:30 pm at Bayside Church of Placerville, 4602 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. We are a Christ centered recovery program to find healing and recovery from our hurts, habits, and hangups. Email elebratercovery@ baysideplacerville. com. Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/ CRBaysidePlacerville.

Struggling with life? CELEBRATE RECOVERY is for any Hurt, Habit or Hang-up. We are a faith-based recovery program for life’s issues and struggles. Join us Thursday nights at 6:30pm at Green Valley Church, 3500 Green Valley Rd, Placerville. Doors open at 6:15pm. Children’s programs are available for ages 3 months to 18 years old. Email: celebrate@ greenvalley.church. Find us on Facebook: https://m.facebook. com/crgvcc/

DEMOCRATS – Come meet with the United Democrats of El Dorado County at Round Table Pizza–Missouri Flat Rd. in Placerville at noon on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Call (530)391-6414 or see edcdems. org for more information.

GOLD RUSH CHORUS now welcomes both men and women to share the joy of singing fourpart harmony in the barbershop style. To learn more or to book a performance, call Howard at (530) 647-6513 or Kent (530) 651-3575

Hangtown Women’s TENNIS Club. Join fun-loving women Wednesdays 8am-10am at El Dorado High School. Lessons, social events, only $50/year. Call Cindy 805-540-8654.

MARSHALL HOSPITAL

AUXILIARY is looking for volunteers. It is a rewarding opportunity to do something for the community. We will be holding interviews on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Please contact Linda Grimoldi at 530-6202240 or call the Auxiliary Office at 530-626-2643.

MONDAY CLUB BRIDGE seeks more players. The Monday Club was established in 1949. The club is a very informal, friendly group and invites interested men and women party bridge players to join. The club meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at Denny’s Restaurant on Fair Lane in Placerville at 10:00 am., break for lunch then continue for 2 or 3 more rounds.

SENIOR PEER COUNSELING

Seniors 55 and over who are grieving, depressed or having issues related to aging can meet one-on-one with a caring senior, professionally supervised and trained to listen and encourage. Call (530)6216304 to leave a message and get started.

TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION OF EL DORADO COUNTY

Our mission is to educate the public on tax issues that affect them. Our meetings are held every Monday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 at Denny’s Restaurant, Fair Lane Drive, Placerville. Meetings are open to the public except the first Monday of each month. For more information call Louis (530) 622-6763. We are a nonpartisan organization.