Assume also that the car vouchers will be worth $10,000. You’ll get a voucher - a government “certificate” - in the mail every year. You can spend your voucher at any car dealer. It won’t be worth anything anywhere else – you can’t cash it like a check, nor can you use it to buy a new plasma television or a new wardrobe or a trip to Disney World. Still, that voucher would be nice to have, wouldn’t it?

What would happen if such car vouchers existed? You could run out and buy a used car that costs $10,000, and replace it with another used car every year. Or you could wait a few years and, after accumulating $30,000 worth of vouchers, you could buy a new car costing $30,000. Or, you could take your $10,000 voucher, add $20,000 of your own money right now, and buy a car for $30,000. The choice is yours to make.

What kind of car could you buy? That’s entirely up to you. The voucher would be good at any car dealer - a new car dealer, a used car dealer, an import dealer, a domestic dealer, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler. You’re in the driver’s seat for that decision.

The car dealer you eventually select would accept your voucher or vouchers as partial or full payment for the car, and turn them in to the government. The government would then send the car dealer a check equal to the amount of the vouchers it turned in. Aside from having to be concerned with counterfeit vouchers, the plan would run rather smoothly, and the government agency required to run the program would not have to be very large.

Because the vouchers would essentially be the same as money, every car dealer would want your voucher business – just as they now want your cash business. Some of their cars are known for being reliable and safe, some have more horsepower, some have a lot of cup holders, some are more practical, some are sporty, and some are plain. You are free to buy the car you like. And color, any style, any options. It’s a free market, and you can make the decision that is best for you.

If you live in a big city, you may have many car dealers near you, giving you the advantage of shopping around and being a bit choosier in your purchase decision. If you live in a small town you may have only one car dealer. You may decide to buy your car from that dealer, or you may think it’s worth traveling a few extra miles to get the car you prefer from the next town. Again, it’s your choice.

Over time, the car dealers that sell the better product, and which treat the customers, best will thrive. Some will be very successful and will expand their business. Enterprising businessmen will start new car dealers, wanting to get a portion of the sales generated by the guaranteed, annual vouchers. A few car dealers will no doubt go out of business from time to time, either because the quality of their cars is not up to par or they simply don’t know how to treat the customers. In general, however, everything will run pretty smoothly.

No one in the government program will interfere and tell you what kind of car to buy or where you must buy it. You have total freedom in the car-buying process. The government wouldn’t know what is best for your particular driving needs anyway, would it? You certainly know better than any bureaucrat whether you need a sedan or a minivan or a four-wheel drive vehicle. After all, if you’re not smart enough to know what to drive, you’re probably not smart enough to drive in the first place.

Luckily, you live in the United States, where you have some essential freedoms. In other countries, they do not allow car vouchers. In fact, in many socialist countries, the citizens are not able to choose the car they would like to drive. Instead, the government manufactures only one brand of car. And although it’s not a particularly reliable or efficient car, it is very expensive. All cars are the same – drab, four-door sedans, olive green in color, with no radio and no cup holders. If it breaks down, you may have a difficult time finding replacement parts. Even if you can find the parts, you will have a hard time finding a good mechanic. That’s another shame, because the cars aren’t built very well.

The cars aren’t very good because many of the people who work on the assembly line are lazy, and sloppy, and they don’t care about quality. Nevertheless, they are paid very well. Some of the employees are excellent, of course, but a strong union protects the worst employees from being fired, so the overall performance on the production line is quite poor.

In those socialist countries, there are powerful people in the government who fight very hard to prevent car vouchers from being introduced. (They drive expensive imported cars, of course, paid for with tax dollars.) They understand that the vouchers are best for the citizens in the long run, but they cannot afford to lose the support of the union workers in the elections. Staying in power is, for them, much more important that doing what is best for the citizens. Those people in power usually refer to each other as “comrade.”

In the United States, people like that refer to each other as “fellow Democrats.”

The next time you hear a politician opposing education vouchers, think of the car voucher analogy. Then vote for your children, by voting against that politician. And the next time you hear a teacher arguing against education vouchers, ask what that teacher fears.

Don Fredrick

November 16, 2008

Copyright 2008, Don Fredrick