If we had more people like George Lang in elected offices across the country, I doubt our nation would be in the mess it’s in. With Trustee Lang up for reelection this year, I thought we would address some of the things that have happened since 2011, when West Chester voters gave him a resounding thumbs up election victory.

This video was from a 2013 interview with Brian Thomas of 55KRC. The initial point of discussion was regarding the bike path issue from 2013. However, the discussion highlights the broad issue of expanding government, fiscal responsibility and basic conservative logic. I’ve included the transcript below the video.

Enjoy!

Brian Thomas 55WKRC: Don’t go away. We’ve got George Lang coming out of West Chester Trustee to tell us all about what is a bike trail. Public work project? Is it shovel-ready project? Don’t go away. We’ll talk to him right after these brief words. Seven forty five here at City Talk station. Happy Thursday to you. Brian Thomas here. Welcoming to the program, Westchester Trustee George Lang. Good to have you on today, George.

Trustee George Lang: Thanks, Brian. It’s a beautiful day up here in West Chester Ohio.
Brian Thomas 55WKRC: Always beautiful in Westchester, isn’t it?
Trustee George Lang: It always is.
Brian Thomas 55WKRC: Home of John Boehner. You guys were arguing over and considering a brand new bike trail involving some federal money, and up until yesterday, my understanding is you were the only one who is against the project. Tell me why.
Trustee George Lang: Well, for me, this is not a core competency of our government. It’s a luxury item. Our core competencies are providing emergency services, police fire and emergency, medical and technical assistance and then roads and storm water maintenance. Everything else that we do is an extravagance or a luxury. And for us to go and get a federal grant from the federal government in order to build something that we do not need to me is shameful and immoral. Brian, we’re talking at a time when the federal government is borrowing forty cents of every dollar that they spend, and we’re going to take some of that money for a luxury item and saddle our children and our grandchildren with these taxes? To me it’s shameful and immoral but we considered it.
Brian Thomas 55WKRC: George, I echo everything you said. I’m going to underscore and put it in bold and put an exclamation point behind me, an exclamation point. I wish I talk to more politicians, more people that have that basic understanding. It is morally irresponsible to further indebt our country. And you’re right, there are limits to government on every level. George, how come more people don’t just get it like you get it?
Trustee George Lang: I don’t know, but on the broad picture, we are over-governed, over-regulated, over-taxed and we are over-burdened. People look at Westchester and they say, we are a model for economic growth. We have flourished and prospered from an economic development perspective. And Brian, it’s not because we’re better, smarter, or faster than any other community around us just for simple reason only: businesses can come to West Chester and make more money. And their businesses are in business for only one reason, to make the maximum amount of profit that the market, not the government but the market will allow. Since we have a lower tax base and in general, a kinder, friendlier zoning department, a business can come here and more readily flourish and prosper than going to another community. We’re looking for a reason to rotate your business. Especially in these tough economic times, you’re going to go to the place where you can maximum your profit.
Brian Thomas 55WKRC: And oddly enough, George, West Chester is booming. There are a ton of businesses up there. It is a model and all without a bike trail.
Trustee George Lang: That’s right, correct.
Brian Thomas 55WKRC: I wish you lived in Downtown, Cincinnati and ran for council, George.
Trustee George Lang: Listen Brian, this is what most local government people don’t understand. They don’t consider the law of unintended consequences. So they look at how things are right now today. Man, we’re rocking and rolling, we’ve got money rolling in, businesses are coming in, people are relocating here. And so they start building infrastructure. They build bike pass, parks, Taj Mahals, swimming pools, not understanding the unintended consequences ten, 20, 30 years down the road when the cost of the infrastructure has gotten so high that you have to pass that parks along to businesses and residents, and all of a sudden, now people cannot afford to move in to your community. It’s the law of unintended consequences that most politicians don’t take into effect as they build unnecessary and luxurious infrastructure.
Brian Thomas 55WKRC: And George, it’s interesting. You are so forward thinking and understanding of this. And we have all of these illustrations of government entities, local, and of course, statewide, national that have gone down the road that you’re warning against. I mean, cities Cincinnati is literally falling apart and they are underwater because they didn’t think that there would ever be bad times that would befall Cincinnati. They got themselves dug into a huge hole and they can’t get out of it.
Trustee George Lang: Yeah, and it’s not just Cincinnati, it’s so many other communities. And the frustrating part Brian is, the people that are spending the money and building the infrastructure really think they’re doing good. What a nice, noble thing. Why can’t we have better amenities for our citizens? They just can’t understand the unintended consequences and it’s what’s going on with our nation right now. We are on to track to socialism and if we don’t this ship, it may be too late to save our republic.