Gwinnett Daily Post

Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

We are slow learners. If you have a problem with government, its agencies or representatives, who're you going to call? It's always another layer of government. Rather than going to the source of the problem and fixing it, you create another layer of government.

The latest example is Gwinnett County's Engage Gwinnett committee. The elected commissioners have failed to perform the jobs they have been elected to do, so rather than petition them out of office and get replacements, we create an oversight committee to rehash the problems and come up with suggestions for solutions.

The findings and recommendations will not be turned over to the county commissioners until mid-2010. The residents of Gwinnett need action today from our elected officials. The commissioners have to be happy that they are buying time for the recommendations that come from the committee, and who is to say they will accept the recommendations? In the meantime, is anything getting done?

Going back to the definition of insanity: How many government agencies or positions have been created to do the job that should be done in the first place? It exists at all levels of government.

How about the czars President Barack Obama has appointed to oversee official appointees that have to be scrutinized by Congress? How about locally, the state has a department of transportation but has since created MARTA, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and now we have the Get Georgia Moving coalition to solve the transportation mess that Atlanta is now know for.

We keep on doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.