If a business person seeking office promises to run government like a business, be wary; be very wary.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf found this out the hard way his first year in office. For someone who ran a company and got things done on his say-so, he has found out that wanting it, saying it, stumping the state for it, yes, even commanding it doesn't get it done.There is the perfect example of how this has played out: We are in our eighth month without a full state budget in place.This is the basic job of Wolf and the members of the General Assembly, and he and they have been so polarized that we are seeing the same kind of gridlock here as we see in our nation's capital with a Democratic president and a Republican-controlled Congress. But, hey, even they were able to come to terms late last year and forge an agreement on a budget.While the concept of running government like a business sounds plausible, the execution is impossible.In a business, if the CEO wants something done, he or she orders it, and it either gets done, or heads roll. Wolf was the CEO of the Wolf Organization Inc., a building materials company owned by his family and based in York.In government, Wolf is just one of 254 elected officials who are involved in decision-making. If the governmental goals don't get done - the aforementioned 2015 budget, for example - there are no reprisals. No one is held accountable in any meaningful way. There are no suspensions, no firings, no monetary penalties, and, to be truthful, with the exception of some grousing here and there, even the state residents don't seem to be overly interested in the problem.Wolf cannot fire the members of the General Assembly any more than they can fire him. Each of these officials is answerable to us, the voters. We elected them, and, come April 26 (Pennsylvania primaries) and Nov. 8 (the General Election), we can either keep them or vote them out of office.All 203 members of the state House of Representatives come up for election this year, as do half (25) of the members of the state Senate. Wolf is in the second year of a four-year term. We won't be able to issue a report card on his performance in any meaningful way until 2018 when and if he runs for re-election.Most of the members of the General Assembly live in "safe" districts, so unless there is a near-revolution among the electorate, re-election never seems to be a problem.It has been fashionable for candidates over the past several decades to declare proudly that, if elected, they would run government as a business as a way to cut spending and reduce debt.First of all, the premise is false. Corporations and government have completely opposite goals and operate in different ways.The reason for government's existence is to advance the common well-being of its citizens. Government is expected to provide some services which are incompatible with the aims of the private sector. Government provides these services for everyone, regardless of the ability to pay for them.Regardless of how a business makes money, it exists exclusively for the profit of those who own it. There is no requirement that a corporation provide services to those who cannot afford them, nor is there a requirement for a business to serve the public good.The most basic flaw in trying to run government like a business is the disconnect in goals between government and businesses. Corporations need to pay their workers enough to entice them to work, but they are not obligated to work to improve their workers' well-being. On the other hand, government exists for the sole purpose of serving its citizens' interests.This is why promising to run government like a business is ridiculous. When we hear a politician promise to do it, we should remember that this is like someone chasing the impossible dream, a comparison between apples and oranges. Don't fall for this claim.BRUCE FRASSINELLI |

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