MAG site example of government being where it doesn’t belong

EHarmony for business? More like government steamrolling (“Website to help state realize its potential for international trade,” Opinions, Tuesday).

There already are business referral networks all around the Valley, state and United States.

And they are operated by smallbusiness people scratching out a living using the Internet. Surely MAG has heard of the Internet where all the info on their new ConnectBien.com site comes from? The Maricopa Association of Governments is acting as a cataloger, and using taxpayer money to do it.

Once more, enter “government,” this time in the form of MAG, just one more taxpayer-funded “I know what is best for you, I’m here to help” organization made up of local political hacks extending their influence so they have stuff to talk about in their re-election campaigns.

How can private groups like the 101 Referral Network, for example, compete with MAG’s unlimited taxpayer funded site? They can’t. MAG has a fulltime IT manager. 101 Referral has Facebook.

And obviously, MAG has full-time public-information officers who get local newspapers to publish free advertising articles for them.

When do we say enough to bigger and bigger government stepping on small enterprise and “picking winners” through economic “mis-development” led by know-nothing politicians who have never had to make a profit on their own?

—

Howard Brodbeck,

Goodyear

Who would have thought we’d long for car commercials on TV?