I’ve often discussed (OK, argued) about what the government does well. Some people would suggest that defense is what government does best, and I would have to give some support to that argument. Our military is the best in the world. Some would contend that delivering justice through our judicial system is what government does best. You will get a little more push back from me on that assertion, but we’re better than most in that area. Some would suggest that government does nothing well, and you would get strong support for that idea these days, but I would propose that there is undoubtedly one thing government does very well, and that is – Grow.
It’s always done to provide something free to some Americans somewhere, but with that growth comes intrusion and with that encroachment comes loss of liberty. The best way to measure this intrusion is to measure government spending as a percent of gross domestic product or GDP. GDP is the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period - you can think of it as the size of our economy. When you compare our spending to our GDP you are including all inflation and population growth, so that you get a real sense of the size or involvement of government (intrusion) into our lives.
In 1903 the federal government spent just over 2% of the country’s GDP. For the last two years, that figure has been very close to 25%, and there has been very little shrinking of government during that 108-year period. Under the Clinton administration government shrank from 22% to 18% of GDP and balanced the budget. This is a hint for those who wonder what the right size of government should be. Most growth has come from explosive increases. Under FDR, the government grew from around 6% of GDP to about 11% just before World War II. Under Harry Truman government went from a post war size of just over 13% to 21% by the end of his term. It stayed close to that level for the next 55 years, but now, under the Obama administration it has made another surge.
What is driving this surge is involvement. Whether that involvement is for bailouts or subsidies for wind and solar energy, it is still involvement, and the next big intrusion is about to come in the form of ObamaCare. As Nancy Pelosi famously said, “We need to pass the bill so that we can find out what is in it.” Well, we are beginning to find out what is in it, and many Americans are not very happy about it. Ask the Catholics right now.
The government is now telling the Catholic Church that they must provide contraceptives, morning after abortion pills and sterilization procedures whether their conscience will allow it or not. Whether 98% of Catholic women use contraceptives or not is irrelevant. The government cannot tell any religion what their beliefs should be. And don’t give me the argument that it is about access. There is no problem with women accessing birth control pills. How do you think all those Catholic women get them? That is also irrelevant. The Catholic Church has been providing a tremendous service to our country for hundreds of years. They have been able to supply that service within the dictates of their conscience, but now our secular government demands that the church must think like it or be eliminated. Doesn’t this violate our country’s most fundament beliefs of freedom of religion?
The bigger point here is that we all need to be very careful about how big and intrusive the government gets. Not only is big government expensive, which either means higher taxes or more debt, but it can force you to spend your hard earned money on things that you would never, ever support on your own. And it doesn’t matter if you are conservative or liberal. The government subsidizes everything from big oil to Solyndra. It gives money to everything from Planned Parenthood to the arts. The point is, if you think you didn’t pay for opera tickets last year. Think again. If you think you would never give money to any organization that provides abortions. Think again.
The United States was built on the concept of individual liberty and personal responsibility, and the concept of limited government. So if you don’t want the government to tell you what your children can eat in their school cafeterias or what light bulb you can use in your own homes then we need to limit its size. Oh wait, they already do that.
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