Beach Driving Permits and the Bigger Issue

I'm afraid that we have entered an age of insanity when it comes to our government. The sad truth is that we, the electorate, are responsible for the state we find ourselves in.

This month the National Park Service is instituting new regulations for beach driving. Many of us have asked why? The new rules do not appear to address any serious problem, correct any wrong or provide any benefit to society. We are being asked to pay fifty or one hundred twenty dollars for the privilege of driving on our beaches. This is a privilege we have enjoyed at no expense for many decades. So, it is apparent that we are receiving nothing of added value for our money, but rather, it is a racket, like paying protection to the Mafia.

Just why are we responsible for this? For many years we have elected people to public office who believe that government knows best, better than us, and that bigger government can provide the solution to all our problems. Those well intentioned office holders have passed laws and appointed judges of the same beliefs. Government has grown out of control and the bureaucracy they have created make the rules with impunity. Legislators pass the laws, but they don't write most anymore. Proposed legislation is crafted by legal minds with an agenda, from the likes of K Street, Wall Street or some socialist leaning organization. One congressman when asked if he had read some monstrous piece of legislation, laughed, saying no, that's what lawyers are for. Another well known congress person declared with a straight face that we need to pass that bill to find out what is in it. Well intentioned, well maybe, some of the time.

We have put ourselves in the position of being powerless against our own government. The public's input is pretty much an exercise in futility. We cannot say that those who wrote our Constitution didn't warn us that this could happen. Beach driving is the loss today. Tomorrow it could be commercial fishing or something else we treasure like First or Second Amendment rights. President Gerald Ford warned us, “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have”.

There is a solution and it won't come easy. Don't vote for anyone who promises to have government do more for you. Vote for those who are committed to shrinking government, and to bringing integrity, common sense and brevity to legislation and regulation. This is a conversation we all should be having.