In the latest round of nonstop TV ads between Republican West Virginia gubernatorial candidates Patrick Morrisey, Moore Capito and Chris Miller (candidate and Secretary of State Mac Warner seems to be sitting the whole thing out), the last of those three is trying to break out as a “businessman†candidate.
Miller, who runs the family business empire of auto dealerships, says this makes him like Donald Trump, and then goes on to assert that he, like Trump, is a political outsider.
That last claim is hilariously false. Miller is the son of Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., who served in the state Legislature for several years before heading to D.C. Her father, Ralph Devine, served as a Republican congressman representing Ohio for more than 20 years. It doesn’t get much more “inside†than that. In a way, Miller’s entire run for governor seems like another attempt to inherit the family business.
Now, he’s hardly alone. Capito is the son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and the grandson of late West Virginia governor Arch Moore, who ended up going to prison after pleading guilty to felony corruption charges. Morrisey has been attorney general since 2012, and is wrapping up his third term — even though he vowed to serve only two. Warner comes from a political family, as well. These are all insiders.
So, brushing that aside, would West Virginia be well-served by someone who promises to run government like a business?
Well, Gov. Jim Justice, who touted his sense for business, has held the state’s highest office for eight years, and his businesses and finances appear to be collapsing. Justice’s net worth was once pegged at around $1.3 billion. At present, he’s buried beneath a mountain of debts, unpaid taxes, legal settlements, fines, fees and just about any other form of financial penalty one could name, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars at least.
His business sense has led to tax cuts for the wealthy that appear to be blowing holes in state revenue, and his absentee-governing style has compounded emergencies in education, health care and the foster care system, to name a few.
No wonder Miller skipped Justice and presented himself as a businessman “like Trump.†Although Trump’s multiple bankruptcies, business failures, cons and current slate of criminal charges don’t inspire confidence, either.
All of that aside, the problem with a “businessman†candidate is that government operations are not a business. Cutting costs in government usually means cutting services for people who need them or slashing departments so they can no longer adequately do their jobs, which typically end up being fairly vital.
Sure, there might be bloat, waste or inefficiencies. So far, few self-identified businessmen in positions of political power have been able to do much about it, instead running years of flat budgets that overwhelm and burn out employees and departments that are not paid well and short on resources.
It would be great if a “businessman†could improve government operation and raise revenue that could be invested back into the system so that vital departments could flourish. Too often, though, a promise to run government like a business is just words without meaning or understanding.
