Where do I vote for small government?
I cast my vote today, as I always do, and we wait here in Ontario this evening to find out who our Premier will be. Toronto is my first home, and the effects on it from lack of leadership both here and in Queens Park are something all Torontonians should be concerned about. Watching the political landscape increasingly reduces my hope that small and responsible government can ever be a reality here again.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
At last, something to which I can relate. In 2000 the Republicans swept into office in the U.S., ending with their being in control of the House, Senate, and Presidency. George Bush defined himself as a “compassionate conservative.” It took less than 4 years to discover that “compassionate conservative” translated into “liberal.”
Yes, Bush has been an excellent president as concerns the defense of the United States of America, and he did manage to squeak out a minimal tax cut, which has resulted in the U.S. economy being the best in the history of mankind. In fact, the tax cut, as Ronald Reagan and JFK both knew, has resulted in more money pouring into the government coffers than ever before.
As someone famous once wrote, “Therein lies the rub.”
With so much money on hand, the Republicans controlling the revenue just could not help themselves. They spent like drunken Democrats. Not only did they not cut any programs, entitlement or otherwise, but increased the dollars going to the existing ones and added new ones to boot.
This, of course, resulted in a revolt of the conservative base and their losing control of the House and Senate in the last elections.
The crux of the problem is the group of RINOs passing themselves off as Republicans, and a group we classify as Country Club Republicans. In many cases, they are one and the same.
Republicans are supposed to believe in “limited government.” As it is written in Zen Buddhism, “It is what it does. You can call a tail a leg, but that is not going to make it a leg.”
We are ready for new definitions. Conservatives are the “real” Republicans. If you do not believe in the strict interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America, you are NOT a REPUBLICAN!
Every other interpretation of the Constitution which fails to limit the federal government, is a liberal interpretation, by definition.
The only way to get limited government, is to elect representatives who actually BELIEVE in limited government.
Karl Marx pointed out in his writings that the inherent weakness in our system is that people will elect the politico who promises them the most government largesse. Politicians believe this as much as Marx did, and they seem to be proven right every election cycle.
All of the American people have to take responsibility not just for their freedom, but the freedom of their fellow citizens. I don’t give a hoot if you want to give up your freedom … but I will be damned if I will let YOU give up MINE!
I don’t care if you make a zillion dollars, I don’t want you paying for my broken leg. And, if I had a zillion dollars, I would not want to pay for YOUR broken leg. You get no benefit from my repaired broken leg, and I get no benefit from yours. You broke your leg, no matter how, so you pay for it. If I break mine, I’ll pay for it.
The very idea that you think I should pay for your broken leg, and vice versa, is anathema to personal responsibility, upon which our freedom is based.
As long as people think that someone else should pay for their broken leg, we will never again have limited government … which might very soon lead to no FREEDOM!
October 12th, 2007 at 9:56 am
As you know, I’m no more fond of ‘big brother’ than I am of the nanny state.
On the subject of war, I’d like to note that at least dealing with national security and foreign threats is a primary duty that we elect federal representatives to carry out. Military spending may be difficult for most people to comprehend, but it differs from social service spending in several regards, in that it does shrink as well as grow, and also in the aspect of lifetime job security for employees who don’t get anything done.
Government largesse (and the power it represents) is, without question, the biggest barrier to small government. I think that the US is close to the 50% mark, being the measurement of what portion of the adult population earns their income in government dollars. We passed that 50% mark many years ago here in Canada. Most of us are voting for our job/employer rather than for a representative.
Central to the matter of small government, I believe, especially in countries the size of yours and mine, is that most social issues can only be addressed effectively at a community level. By putting social responsibilities into the hands of federal government we become, eventually, completely detached from them on a personal level.