The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Feb 27 2009, 10:11 EST
My neighbor reminded me that street parking permits expire tomorrow. Today is a Friday which means The Office of Traffic and Parking is open for three hours from 9am to Noon. If this year is like past years the line will be two hours long every day for the next couple weeks. A permit is only $15 so even a McDonalds worker loses more money by standing in line that he spends on the permit itself. As a service to the citizens the office is open a whole 34 hours a week.

Government is so efficient let's put it in charge of our health care and industrial policy too. What could go wrong?

Auto Tag Stores

Pennsylvania has a system hack in the form of "Auto Tag" stores. These are privately owned businesses that send your documents to Harrisburg by courier and, for a small fee, expedite all kinds of paperwork. Here is a partial list of services offered by Kyle's Auto Tag:
  • PA Drivers License Renewals and or Duplicates
  • Change of Address
  • DMV: Registration Renewals, Replacement License Plates, and Duplicates
  • Birth and Death Certificates
  • Notary Public
You get the idea. At first glance this might seem like a free market solution to a government problem. While it is more convenient than going through the official channels, Kyle's makes clear on their homepage this is just another form of rent seeking:
With my connections in the DMV and my Insurance family of friends there is no problem to big or to small that I cannot solve.
Not very grammatical but the gist is clear "I know people (and you don't)."

0.10 seconds
jackdied.com 2003-2007