New School Politics

A Sign Our Government Has Gotten Too Big

Ryan | 24 01 2008

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From Steve Forbes:

Our Founders drafted the Constitution with fewer than 5,000 words; with later amendments it is about 8,000 words. The federal tax code is more than 9 million words. So the document that created the government is less than 0.1% as long as the tax code that funds it. Such is the state of Washington today.

Well, needless to say the contrast is stark. For all the politicians who do, I think it is an absolute crock for any of them (except for the Ron Pauls of the world, perhaps) to implicate their nostalgia for the Founders considering they support a federal government that spends one fifth of the economy (and state and local governments that spend another one sixth). And this includes the Republicans who trick themselves into thinking they are the party of small government.

The truth is they’ve got nothing on Thomas Jefferson, who cut the already small federal government by a quarter. The third president outlined his belief in a “wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another.” Today, the Democratic party, which holds an annual dinner in Jefferson’s name, wants the government to control the whole healthcare industry.

While Americans have no problem glorifying their forefathers, it is clear that they have no idea what they actually stood for, and what the constitution stands for. And until and unless they do, American freedom will continue to be marginalized.