Once again we see a liberal saying something stupid and provocative that a conservative could never say and get away with. Here’s what she said in an interview with the liberal group Mediaite:

I mean, I’d like to see his house burn, one of his millions of houses burning down. Who’s he going to call, the Mormon fire patrol?

If someone burns down Mitt Romney’s house, will Joy Behar take responsibility for it?

Let’s consider her “Mormon fire control” quip. In many communities, fire departments were and are voluntary. The Union Fire Company was a volunteer fire department formed in Philadelphia in 1736 with the assistance of Benjamin Franklin. When there’s a fire, men get a call, don their gear, and drive to the fire. Volunteers often assist paid firemen. In many small communities, volunteers are all that’s needed. “According to the National Fire Protection Association, 71 percent of firefighters in the United States are volunteers.” So there could be a “Mormon fire patrol.” There are lots of them in Utah.

Behar’s comments were designed to attack Romney and conservative calls for cuts in government spending. The president has proposed increased FEDERAL government spending that he maintains will trickle down to pay for more police, firefighters, and teachers. If government spending reduced and our taxes cut, there would be more money available to pay for teachers, firemen, and police.

Here’s the problem that neither Behar nor the President seems to understand. These government jobs are paid for locally, at the county level. These are not federal jobs.

Why should someone like me who lives in Georgia pay for firemen, police, and teachers in other states? When the federal government taxes us, there is less money available at the county and state levels to fund what is necessary for local governments.

Consider how much money is lost in the shuffle as we are taxed, the money is sent to Washington, the bureaucracy takes its cut, the money is then redirected to states and counties where their bureaucracies take their cut, and then the money is parceled out as political favors in order to keep some congressmen in power. Why not keep the money at the county level.

Why not let local governments take care of their own local issues and determine how they will pay their policemen, firemen, and teachers.

Without the private sector, government jobs do not exist. Governments do not create wealth. The private sector does. Governments don’t have any money. They have to get money from taxpayers or create it out of thin air which dilutes its value over time.

The call for “less government” is not a call for “no government.” The Constitution is about “less government,” especially at the national level. There is no mention of teachers, firemen, or policeman. In fact, the Constitution doesn’t mention anything about education. These are LOCAL governmental issues that are to be paid for by LOCAL residents who are better equipped to deal with LOCAL policies and politicians.