The Arrogance of Government; Controlling the Stuff of Life to Control Our Lives

Is government of the people, by the people and for the people being replaced by government against the people? A few recent incidents, all involving an essential ingredient for life, display the arrogance of government and how it increasingly acts against the interests of its citizens.

Yesterday, the Nevada Policy Research Institute held a luncheon in which the attorney for its Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation's (CJCL), Joseph Becker, discussed the lawsuits CJCL has filed challenging government power and overreach.

CJCL's most recent case involves a church camp in which the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife inexplicably diverted a stream that provided fresh water to the Ministero Roco Solida Church's Patch of Heaven camp. Not only did the diversion deny water to Patch of Heaven but it also caused flooding resulting in severe damage to the camp when a rainstorm hit the area.

As Becker related during the Q & A, although F&W staff mentioned protecting some fish in the stream the agency never really provided much of a reason for the diversion. 4thSt8's Tom Mitchell has much more on this case.

A few hundred miles north of here, an Idaho couple experienced another incidence of the arrogance of government. As this R-J editorial explains, the couple purchased property on which they intended to build a home.

They obtained a building permit from the local municipality. But when they began preparing the lot for construction, the EPA ordered them to stop, claiming the lot contained protected wetlands, even though several homes existed between their lot and the nearest water. Continuing construction would expose them to daily fines that far exceeded the value of the land.


Their case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court will, hopefully, rein in rogue agencies that have defined every pothole that can collect water as a "wetland" or "navigable waterway" in order to push an extreme agenda and reserve for themselves the right to dictate what the rest of us can and (more often) can't do with our own property.

Locally, water for most residents in the area is provided by the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD), a government agency that is overseen by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). At a recent meeting the SNWA board discussed charging additional fees to make up for lost revenue from declining population and construction activity.

Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy has suggested placing liens on foreclosed properties in order to collect a new infrastructure fee now under consideration for all homes and businesses with water hookups, even inactive ones.

The water supplier charging people who don't use water? What a novel idea. I'm sure many businesses would like to charge people who don't buy their products. Except they can't. Only the government can get away with charging people for something they neither want nor need nor use.

The justification reveals an astonishing mindset that is borne of the arrogance of government.

The argument goes something like this: Every home and business benefits from having a reliable water system, even those that are empty. Every­one should pay a share of the cost to keep that system up and running.

As Mulroy put it, a "property isn't worth a nickel unless it has a water supply."

And only they are allowed to provide that supply, which is where the arrogance comes in. The government has created a monopoly for the LVVWD by banishing alternatives. The government prohibits competition and creates a monopoly for itself in providing a particular product or service then demands the people bow down and honor it for its benevolence in providing that product or service.

Don’t think the government has a monopoly on water in Las Vegas? Think again. If service is available to your home by the LVVWD you are forced to use that service, even if you may have an alternate source.

Some friends of mine used to own a home on a little cul-de-sac in Northwest Las Vegas. Most of the homes in that community were built in the 70’s or earlier, long before growth reached that area. The water service for the homes originally was provided by a community well, which cost residents far less than what LVVWD residential customers paid.

A few years ago, the LVVWD decided that it was going to connect these homes to its system. Not only did it force the members of the little community to shut down their well, it made them pay the cost of connecting to the LVVWD. And now their water costs more than it did before. Only through government is this possible.

So, one may argue, it’s not a true monopoly because the LVVWD can’t stop people from buying bottled water (at least not yet). But drinking water is just a small portion of the normal person’s consumption. In addition, some cities have sought to punish those who drink bottled water, in part because that choice hurts municipal water sales.

These are just a few examples of government that has grown far too big and wields far too much power. "Government of the people, by the people and for the people," as described in Lincoln's famous passage from the Gettysburg Address, is being replaced by government that is too often against the people, exhibiting an arrogance and disregard for the rights of those to whom it supposedly is beholden. This trend must be reversed.