Our federal, state and local governments are failing us. Local governments are closest to us and, according to Thomas Jefferson, should be most responsive to our needs. Summit County politicians have allowed the state and federal governments to usurp their power and responsibility to serve our community interests.

Sometimes, local governments act to address a national issue, such as racism or climate change. Sometimes, the federal government wants to control us in matters that are best left to local government, such as schools, health care and housing. In either case, they waste tax revenue, reduce our freedom or both. Self-righteous local politicians engage in virtue signaling, claiming they want to help remedy a problem when their concern is really just for show.

We used to say, “Don’t make a federal case out of it,” recognizing that our Constitution grants the federal government only specific limited powers. All other powers are reserved for the states or the people.

Now, politicians merely say there is a problem or a hyped-up crisis and then give unelected bureaucrats the power to “help” solve the problem without considering the local cost or benefits of any proposed action. To them, the end justifies the means no matter how ineffective or costly the remedy is.

Here are three examples:

First, slavery is a huge stain on our national honor, even though it was only in effect in the United States of America for 89 years from 1776 to 1865. We have countless laws making racial discrimination illegal. However, the national education bureaucracy is eager to impose diversity, inclusion and equity programs in local schools to “help” eradicate the effects of racism. We waste time and money locally teaching about hypothetical racism instead of teaching students English, math, science and actual history subjects they need to become responsible, productive citizens.

Our Summit County student standardized test scores are declining. Our Spanish-speaking students are not gaining English fluency fast enough to fully participate in American society. Our tax dollars are wasted on the teachers unions no matter how ineffective they are at educating our kids.

Second, Colorado and Summit County politicians are wasting taxpayer dollars on measures that purportedly will “help” reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change. They do not know or care whether their actions will cause any measurable reduction in global temperatures due to the lack of accurate scientific consensus.

In fact, future global demand for energy will increase hydrocarbon use and subsequent carbon emissions. Any Summit County reductions will have zero impact on climate change. Yet politicians are spending our money to enrich their friends in the renewable industries of subsidized electric vehicles, expensive wind and solar technologies, and wasteful climate studies in government and universities, saying it will help reduce climate change. Just look at all the private Gulfstream jets lined up in Glascow, Scotland, last week as evidence.

Finally, the COVID-19 program has been poorly administered. Last summer, national Democratic politicians said they would not trust vaccines developed under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed. Now, they are mandating that employers fire workers who believe in “my body, my choice” and decline the vaccine.

COVID vaccines and antibody tests should be distributed locally to protect the community without infringing on personal freedom. Delegating policy decisions to unelected bureaucrats from Dr. Anthony Fauci down to Summit County Public Health Director Amy Wineland is wrong. Their political biases have disrupted our lives, our economy and our schools, which will take years to repair.

Better to have Summit County elected officials make important local decisions than having our interests poorly served by Denver or Washington, D.C., bureaucrats. We need to elect trustworthy people of integrity to local offices — people who will let us live our own lives, pursue our happiness and enjoy our property in the liberty that has made our country great.

Kim McGahey’s column “Conservative Common Sense” publishes biweekly on Tuesdays in the Summit Daily News. McGahey is a real estate broker, tea party activist and former Republican candidate. He has lived in Breckenridge since 1978. Contact him at kimmcgahey@gmail.com.