Stevenson: The Progressive Way to Bankruptcy

By Jon Stevenson

Note: The following opinion-editorial article is written and provided by Jon Stevenson, a DeSoto County businessman and head of the DeSoto Integrity and Government Political Action Committee. Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily that of this publication. 

In modern, 21st-century America, the Progressive mantle has been seized by the Progressive Left, which is characterized by an adherence to postmodernist Marxist thought and socialized public welfare of all kinds. This leftist Progressive trend began during the Obama Administration and hasn’t slowed down. Even during the first Trump administration, the evolution of the federal government and some state governments into institutions of progressive thought continued unabated, and when President Biden assumed office, the process supercharged.

But the Progressive mantle wasn’t always held by the left. In fact, originally it was claimed by Republican reformers like President Teddy Roosevelt and Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. These reformers lived in a time of deep political corruption, and their fight was how to root out and minimize the corruption. Justice Brandeis and his supporters held the view that power should be pushed down to the people, and more political power should be devolved to the electorate to combat corruption. President Roosevelt believed that only an empowered government, with bureaucratic processes that could be fixed, could combat the power of large corporations.

Over time, Roosevelt’s view won out, but what have been the results of that? Purchasing rules, ethics rules, and open meeting laws have led to bureaucracy of all kinds that has reduced some types of corruption but has also created other types. The revolving door of the bureaucracy working for companies they once regulated shows the bankruptcy of the system that was created.

The human temptation to profit off of the system is just too great. Our $2 trillion per year budget deficit is also a testament to the inefficiency and corruption of our current system.  Daily, we are exposed to reports coming out of the DOGE office’s efforts at exposing corruption and inefficiency that boggle the mind, like:

• $10M for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”
• $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise-driven skills”
• $2.3M for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia”
• $32M to the Prague Civil Society Centre
• $40M for “gender equality and women empowerment hub”
• $14M for “improving public procurement” in Serbia
• $486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India
• $29M to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”
• $20M for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal
• $19M for “biodiversity conservation” in Nepal
• $1.5M for “voter confidence” in Liberia
• $14M for “social cohesion” in Mali
• $2.5M for “inclusive democracies in Southern Africa”
• $47M for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”
• $2M to develop “sustainable recycling models” to “increase socio-economic cohesion among marginalized communities of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egypt”

All of these expenditures passed the bureaucratic process established to prevent corruption, and yet somehow, this money is being spent. According to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), almost 80 percent of this money is being spent via NGOs located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area!

Even in Mississippi, we have proposals that want to move elected positions and make them bureaucratic in nature. State Insurance Commissioner Mike Cheney, who by all accounts has been excellent at his job, has been attempting to get his position appointed. He states that he believes there’s less chance of corruption in an appointed position rather than an elected one. The problem with that opinion is that the evidence counters his argument. He is elected, has run a competent and efficient office, has had no hint of corruption during his tenure, and yet he wants to change?!

The truth is that you will have the potential for corruption no matter what system you use; it’s just human nature. As the Bible says, all have fallen short of the glory of God. You can have the temptation of corruption via an elected official abusing their office or the temptation of corruption of an appointed official abusing their position to obtain a cushy job with a company they used to regulate. So what’s the solution?

The solution is an educated and engaged citizenry. Pushing more power to the engaged electorate and that electorate using that power to remove officials who fall short. No, we don’t need more appointed bureaucrats. We need voters who are educated, engaged, and willing to vote their leaders both in and out of office when necessary. That’s how you fix the progressive mess that has our nation on the brink of bankruptcy!  So in the end, I guess that Justice Louis Brandeis won after all.