Thanks to our forefathers the backbone of America has been the free enterprise system. We have had the freedom to make our own economic decisions mostly free of government constraints. The private market along with individual responsibility has resulted in an economic engine that brought unparalleled prosperity to millions. The challenge to keep this running is the ability to maintain freedom and self government. We must avoid the threat of Big Government and those that think they can better plan our lives for us. The bigger the government the more money and power it takes from its citizens and the more it chokes the economic engine we rely on.
The problem with Big Government is it deprives society of its most cherished value, freedom. A government that appoints itself as economic distributor will inevitably interfere with both individual and social freedom. Instead of letting free economic and social systems distribute economic and social goods, government takes on that function and becomes the master allocator, often to special interests and its favorite supporters.
Today the federal government’s role and scope of power is ever expanding into just about every aspect of our lives: education, transportation, health care, welfare, food, medicine, energy, commerce, and on and on. Under President Obama, in fact, the federal government has been one of the few areas that has grown during the economic downturn. The number of federal employees grew by 123,000, or 6.2%.
Recently we have seen agencies of this government used to reward supporters, exact revenge and punish critics. The IRS recently has admitted to targeting conservative groups and the Justice Department subpoenaed the phone records of about 100 reporters, besides specifically targeting a FOX News reporter and his parents. I think we can all agree, no matter what party is in power, this is a “red flag” warning signal that our liberties and freedoms are being threatened by such abuse of power.
The most recent assaults on our liberty and economic freedom are the government’s runaway spending and the “Obamacare” wealth distribution scheme. This was a shameful Grow Big Government scam of bait and switch. The formula is quite simple: target the rich, pander to the poor with unsustainable promises, and make the middle class pay for it. President Obama tells us he just found out this Insurance thing is pretty complicated stuff and the federal government is not very good at implementing complex technology solutions. Don’t worry, it only affects one sixth of our economic engine and the personal health of every one of us.
Waste and corruption occur under every administration and the bigger the government the more it siphons away fuel from our economic engine. Our only hope for future prosperity and individual freedom is to reduce the size and power of the federal government to its constitutional limits. Big Government advocates such as Representative Jim Himes need to be replaced in 2014 by those who will rein in government power, thereby reducing the damage that either party can do.
This column is supplied by the Republican Town Committee.