Letter to the Editor: Call to end commission is just a baffling move

Dear Editor:

I find the Nebraska legislator, Ken Haar’s proposal to dissolve the Nebraska Oil and Gas Commission and spread its responsibilities around to a variety of other organizations very interesting, but baffling.

At a time when it’s clear there is too much government and too much government spending, why not dissolve a small, efficient commission that takes nothing from the Nebraska General Fund? Why not ignore the fact that regulating one of the most important industries to our Country requires substantial expertise? And above all, why not ignore the fact that the necessary expertise and decades of experience already exists in the NOGCC?

I suppose if you agree with Ken Haar’s methodology, we should dissolve the Federal Department of Transportation and place their responsibilities under the EPA. Perhaps the Department of Agriculture could be dissolved and their responsibilities placed with the IRS. The Department of Defense could surely absorb the responsibilities of the Department of Education.

I believe this is the perfect time to require that everyone running for public office in western and midwestern states be required to first demonstrate their intelligence level by taking a publicly administered IQ test. Of course that testing requirement probably makes no sense in eastern states because it would surely result in a complete void of government in that portion of our nation.

Unfortunately, evaluating an elected official’s ability to wisely conduct the business of a state or country is best done after viewing their performance and after learning if that official chooses to pursue some personal agenda instead. One great thing about our democratic form of government is that it gives us the ability to replace officials that don’t serve us well.

– James Rowland

Centennial, Colo.