Good Government Chicago Style

Citizens concerned about the expense of government should take a look at Chicago’s solution tomorrow, a new approach that doesn’t involve city officials selling public offices, souls or much of anything else, at least officially.

Chicago is shutting down on Christmas Eve to save money. Except for police, fire and other essential services, the thousands of city officials on Chicago’s payroll won’t work tomorrow and they won’t get paid. (At least by the city – whether or not Chicago’s organized crime network would observe the no-pay rule for its own list of city officials was unclear.)

Because the city government will also be closed for the Christmas holiday, Chicagoans will have 48 hours without the benefits – or expenses – of government as they have come to know it. It’s an idea with possibilities.

For example, no-show city workers still won’t show at the jobs granted by their political patrons, but they won’t get paid. That brings both a savings and increased productivity, since it now takes less paid non-work to do nothing than it did before.

Beyond essential public safety services, only a few other absolutely vital functions will continue without interruption. Chicago’s deceased who are concerned about the continuity of their voting records can rest easy that they’ll continue to be good, if otherwise undemanding, citizens.

Other cities, as well as state and federal governments should pay close attention to the Chicago experiment. Shutting down non-essential government for one day a week allows taxpayers to save 14-20 percent of payroll expenses.

Suppose the Department of State shut down for one day a week. It would issue no statements, position papers or protests. The hands or other body parts of oil-producing nations wouldn’t get kissed, threats wouldn’t be made, bluffs called or situations deplored.

The betting is that most taxpayers wouldn’t notice a bit of difference. As for the foreigners the Department of State is supposed to keep in line, our enemies would still hate us and our allies would still line up for handouts – but the difference is it would cost us less.

See, everyone wins!

The same benefits could be considered for the IRS, the courts, Congress, the White House and their counterparts at the state level. Yes, it’s true that for Congress to cut back to a four-day workweek it would first have to increase to a five-day stint, but that’s a technical detail and shouldn’t distort the big picture.

As Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley (the first one) said “Good government is good politics.”

His son the mayor might think about saying “Less government is good politics – and cheaper, too.”

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