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Has our Government Become too Big?

It wasn t but just about 200 years ago, that the United Sates became an independent country, free from a European dictatorship and tyranny. Fighting for the freedom of having a say in how we wanted to live our lives. It was a time where a town hall meeting was called that for a reason, because the whole town was present. When the people weren t ashamed, but honored to stand up and speak their opinions and their beliefs. Maybe it was the population growth, or maybe advancement in technology, or our increasing political arrogance, but somewhere along the line, we transitioned from a nation of the people, by the people and for the people; into a nation of the government, by the government and for the government. Do we blame the government or do we blame the people? Quite frankly, there is plenty blame to go around. Now, there are those that claim that a larger government is needed as a means to protect our rights and freedoms. To accomplish the large scale tasks of building roads, running electricity, facilitating water distributions and things of those nature; as well as, maintain civil order and defend this nation from other nations. Unfortunately, in today s day in age, it seems that the very rights and freedoms that Americans fought for isn t at risk by the hands of foreign governments, but instead, our own. Today, there are 100 senators and 435 representatives that make up the U.S. congress. The most recent estimate of citizens in the U.S. is 310,932,483 (U.S. Census Bureau, Dec. 2010). This means that less than 1/100th of a percent of the population is making the decisions of what is best for the other 310 Million Citizens of our country! Are we truly to believe that these 535 individuals ideals and needs represent the ideals and needs of everyone, or is it easier to believe that when they make their vote for what s in the best interest of the people they represent, they are referring to themselves and those that are financially backing them?

George Leef, book review editor of the Freeman , writes, Big government is the enemy of liberty. Government actions that go beyond its defensive, rights-preserving functions necessarily entail some form of coercion that diminishes the freedom of at least some people to do what they would like to do. The bigger the government gets, the more it reduces liberty . We don t have to search hard to find examples of this reduction on liberty. We are reminded every time we get a paycheck. We are taxed and forced to pay for several programs that only benefit special interest groups. Many people are not aware, but income tax is not even required by law to pay. Yet an average of 22% of the American paycheck goes to Federal Income Tax. When they first initiated this tax, it was meant to pay for World War I. Since then, it has increased in amount and uses. We are forced to pay for foreign aid that perhaps, you d prefer to be used for domestic aid. Lately, we have been forced to pay for corporate bailouts when we can barely bail ourselves out of debt. The list goes on and on.

Glen Beck, Political Host of Fox News, stated, The average person now sees the government is getting out of control and Americans don t like that. They also see that America is now going bankrupt because of this giant government and the policies our government is doing . The government is taking over health care. This means that they will now control what we are allowed to eat. You want health coverage, no more Doritos, no more cheeseburgers, no more soda. You get the point. Government took over the auto industry. Government took over the banks, controlling the financial industry. They have taken over parts of the oil industry, seizing control of the energy sector. Where and when does this

stop? Does anyone else see this being less of a democratic and free nation and becoming more and more of a dictatorship?

The government holds a lot of the blame in this shift in liberty, but it is not theirs alone. The public needs to do more. They need to speak up. Go to the town hall meetings. Go out and vote. Read the news and get educated on current events. An argument in favor of larger government by some; is

that it is very difficult to allow the people to decide on the issues when the people don t even know what the issues are! Americans have become so dependent on our government for roads, transportation, electricity, protection and just everyday freedoms, that many Americans have become so complacent to even pay attention to the trend of changes of those very rights. I must agree that this is a valid point, but not enough to allow the nations decisions to be made by few.

Another argument made for our government s actions relates to economics. It is believed that if the government hadn t stepped in to seize and bail out the financial industry, the U.S. may have gone bankrupt. If they hadn t stepped in and taken over the auto industry, one of the nation s largest economic producers would have gone under. Mr. Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, wrote in the Wall Street Journal in relation to government health care, Without the government as competition, the private sector has little incentive to improve . Maybe this is true, maybe it s not; but I have to ask, if the government hadn t been so greedy with mortgage and financial regulations over the last decade, would these industries have needed help in the first place?

In 1939, Fred Rodell, Professor of Law, Yale University, wrote: It is the lawyers who run our civilization for us - our governments, our business, our private lives. Most legislators are lawyers; they

make our laws. Most presidents, governors, commissioners, along with their advisers and brain-trusters are lawyers; they administer our laws. All the judges are lawyers; they interpret and enforce our laws. There is no separation of powers where the lawyers are concerned. There is only a concentration of all government power - in the lawyers. As the schoolboy put it, ours is "a government of lawyers, not of men." Everyday people like you and I need to get more involved. Somewhere along the line, Americans forgot that we are the employers of the government, that we are the government! This is a trend that has been increasingly growing decade by decade and we are standing on the verge of relinquishing our

rights to live in and continue on as the great nation our fore fathers created, a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. The United States is becoming less of a free nation and more of a corporation. Are you willing to stand back and simply become it s employee?

Works Cited

What s So Bad about Big Government Anyway December 1997 Volume: 47 Issue: 12. The Freeman Ideas on Liberty

Interview Glen Beck, Big Government vs. Small Government 4 May 2010. Fox News

Woe Unto You, Lawyers! Author, Fred Rodell, Professor of Law, Yale University. 1939

Reich, Robert. Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan June 2009. The Wall Street Journal Online

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