The growing deficit isn’t the only problem facing our government. There’s a growing crisis in the business of government. That’s right the “business” of government.

Estimates are that government spending accounts for 36 percent of our GNP for fiscal year 2019. There are about 22 million people working in the public sector, about 14 percent of our nation’s workforce.

Never thought of government as business? Think again. Think civil servants, educators, armed services and law enforcement. Think Medicaid, Medicare, SSI and FEMA. Think infrastructure, research and development, environmental protection, business regulation. Think military-industrial complex.

Government isn’t just business — it’s big business, whether you like it or not, and our government is in the throes of a management crisis. Governmental management is controlled by our elected officials, and partisanship polarization is creating civil war at the front office. On one side are liberals who believe government should play an increasing role in solving our nation’s problems while on the other are conservatives who believe that role should be shrinking.

In business this would be akin to having a management team where one half believes the company should be moving in one direction while the other thinks it should be doing the exact opposite. Management meetings would be fraught with bickering and hostility in a war for prominence. Missions become conflicted, decision making paralyzed, and day-to-day operations shutdown. This does not work as a business model and it doesn’t for the business of government.

To resolve this paralysis we the people must come to some resolution regarding what we expect our government to do and then fund it sufficiently for the job. Currently we have neither. Mid-term election are coming soon with major implications regarding the direction government is headed. Take a stand — get out and vote.

Roy Estabrook

North Monmouth