Political Football

Disclaimer: this is all the opinion of this blogspace owner and links have been provided to as much supporting documentation as practical.

A favorite Ronald Reagan quote:

The most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

That was never demonstrated more clearly than during Katrina. We have created a culture where people exist for generations on the public dole of some sort. Eleven Trillion dollars spent on the War on Poverty has left that war in a quagmire. Never was this explained more eloquently than by Scott Ott, the owner of the humorous, some time hysterical-not-really-the-news site ScrappleFace.  Go HERE to read the article I’m talking about.  Take your time. It’s not funny.

I’ve also spent some time reading our country’s foundational papers. You can’t help but be impressed with our Founding Fathers and how they framed our government.

Here is a great site to read and bookmark. Our Founding Fathers had quite a struggle to decide who had more power, a centralized government or the states, and how to make sure the larger industrial states did not overwhelm smaller agricultural states in decision making. In the Bill of Rights, the 2nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” is a direct concern of its writers that a centralized government would turn into a dictatorship. It is also a reflection that the Revolutionary War was fought by more than a standing army.

It is my sense that our Founding Fathers intended the central government to manage commerce issues among the states, secure the national defense (they envisioned a small Army/Navy), make treaties with other countries, and not much more. My reading of these documents leads me to think that our Founding Fathers gave us that framework, creating a model that would allow us to pursue our lives in freedom, without the encumbrance of the government.

The federal income tax was first enacted in 1862 to support the Union’s effort. It was eliminated in 1872, revived in 1894, then declared unconstitutional by the the following year. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution made the income tax a permanent fixture in the U.S. tax system.

I’m from the government and I’m here to help…

An easy example showing the growth of the structure of government over the years would be to review the growth of government in the field of Education. There is no provision or even mention of education in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. Yet today we have Presidential Cabinet appointment as the Secretary of Education (there was no provision for a Presidential Cabinet made in our founding documents). We also have the National Education Association, Private Schools, Parochial Schools, Home Schooled, Public Schools and the No Child Left Behind Act – all with federal, state and local rules and regulations. And all of that is provided by — POLITICS.  Yes, government, but really, to me – mostly Politics.

Where some standardization makes sense, typically Republicans will fall on the side of letting the parents decide how to educate their children and will not typically support government intrusion into daily life. In the 2008 election cycle, Democrats are discussing handing traditional day care over to the Government and make it mandatory. You decide if this is a wise use of your taxes.

Republicans small government, less intrusion – Democrats like large governments intruding into every part of your life – we like to call it a “nanny state”.

Part 3 – Republicans & Democrats – National Defense

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