Getting Government Out of the Way
Creating jobs is our highest priority, according to our politicians and pollsters. But what are they doing? I ask my friends on the right and they say we will see multitudes of new jobs created as soon as we get government out of the way.
Exactly what does that mean? The answer I get is that we must cut taxes, eliminate regulation and reduce government spending so corporate America can get on with job creation. Didn’t we do that already? How’s that working for us? Every report I read says corporate treasuries are plush with cash…more cash than most any time in our history. They’ve got the dough and these corporate execs can read the unemployment reports and know how desperately people need jobs. So why aren’t they putting out the “help wanted” signs?
Weren’t many of these corporations in the line to get federal bailout funds, corporate tax breaks and other favors they pay high powered lobbyists to obtain? We want government out of the way except when we need something from government.
I suspect “getting government out of the way” has become one of those automatic answers to whatever is the question. It sounds authoritative enough but inquiring minds want to know what it means.
Government is us. It is a social contract we make. We delegate or relegate things to government we don’t want or cannot do as individuals. I’ll grant you the scope of government is too large, costs too much, hasn’t been held accountable and is messy.
Government isn’t the enemy despite what we might hear constantly repeated. I, for one, want to get government in the way. I want to hold it up, examine it and determine what’s working and what’s not, getting rid of what’s not working and improving those things (like education) we are not willing to do ourselves but aren’t working as well as they should. I want my government to help those unable to help themselves because our churches, our neighborhoods and we are too busy to do those jobs ourselves. I just want to make sure we get a dollar’s worth of service for every dollar spent.
We live in a dualistic culture. Things are black or white, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, all or nothing. You are either 100 percent with me or you are my enemy. We’ve always been told government was the art of compromise but that is missing today. Our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and every great piece of legislation ever passed was a compromise but for some reason compromise has become a distasteful notion. God forbid I have to compromise on what I want, what I believe, what I need.
Perhaps we need to renegotiate our social contract, to have an honest debate on the function and role for government, what we expect and what we are willing to pay for. Let’s include in that debate what responsibility we as citizens have and whether those who have more should pay proportionately more. Let’s get over the mistaken belief we are “self-made.” We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and built the schools, the roads and the government, corporate and social structure we enjoy today. We need to examine where we are at this moment in history and ask whether our current political posture is going to advance our nation or cause us to decline. Most of all we need to ask where we want this nation to go in the future and what it is going to take for us to achieve those goals.
The long view would seem to be we want our children and grandchildren to inherit at least as good as we received. Our current postures won’t take us there.
After several trips to Washington I became convinced that most of our politicans don't have any idea what they have done to create this economic mess. I believe that the basis for our economic downfall is the flawed "Free Trade" issues that have sent the jobs that most Americans depend on to other countries.
In one meeting I was advised by then Congressman Burr that he was a Free Trader and we would have to invent new jobs and retrain our employees. We have now retrained our former employees for lower income jobs, they are preforming service jobs or have no job at all and those of us that are still able to hang on and manufacture something of value have less sales and are paying less taxes.
What happened to the concept of having a strong manufacturing, agriculture, mining and fishery base to add value to our country and keep our economy strong?
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you have liberal tendencies; i'm always wary of those who say my government, my medicare, my social security, etc.;
remember the trouble james baker got into when he said the war was all about jobs? create your own job! don't look to government or anybody else to find you a "position;"
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Doug,
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I say that the current administration sold We the People on “hope ‘n change”, and yes, he is our current President. This was the mistaken belief that Mr. Obama would change “business as usual” in Washington for the better, be post racial, lower the seas, etc. What he actually did is to make our situations worse, more divisive, and turned out to be the disappointing second term of Jimmy Carter…on steroids. Dare I say the worst President in history? Therefore, we were fooled, and this government is not what we voted for. I believe that in this context Doug is correct in his implications.
It seems that you believe that the government should be all things to all people? I think we should ask ourselves if our schools have become so large and political that it has caused them to fail our children. You had a show recently where the leaders of the community colleges claimed that incoming students have to be brought up to the high school level before moving forward with the college agenda. Maybe we should entertain the idea of alternate education in the wake of such failure?
I believe the other issues you mentioned should be handled at the local level, not at the federal level. Ronald Reagan said that government does not solve problems, it subsidizes them. The federal government has become too big, and has reached too far into our lives. It is time to shrink it for the good of society, and reduce the national debt.
The fact that private companies are sitting on large sums and not investing in new ventures or hiring should be an indicator, to the business minded, of their uncertainty regarding the Democrat/Progressive agenda. When this type of political climate shows its ugly head the human action of preservation kicks in with less risk-taking, and more saving. This is explained in detail by Ludwig von Mises’s theory of praxeology.
The solution is not only to get the government out of the way, but to restore the confidence of all Americans the same way Reagan did. We live in the greatest country in the history of the world. Why does the left not believe this? Why have they lost their belief in the American dream of life, liberty, and property? Why does the left think that government has become God and parent? I will leave you with this: “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” -Benjamin Franklin
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it's just that usually the MY ... means they want something; they want something from the efforts of others; there is a grand compromise when ALL of our efforts can be harnessed for the greater good; but too few are producing to carry the rest;
the government is us; but socialism seems to always end up at the point of a gun; some things only the whole group can do in unison; but that doesn't mean we make work to keep people occupied; what happened to individual initiative? i realize this diminishes with age, and i do think there's a special obligation to help our elderly--particularly, as i see it with myself and family; but, there's individual responsibility there too; don't have more kids than you can afford, provide personal assistance for aging parents, etc.;
but we should also not be paying long-term unemployment benefits either; what about the self-employed? who's looking after them?
just some thoughts...
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Outstanding analysis of the current state of affairs relative to "government." Unfortunately those charged with governing us (those we elected) have decided they know what is best for all of us. They do not have a clue about what the citizens of this country want,since they cater to lobbyists and to the fringe groups screaming the loudest. Ordinary citizens need to organize and take their country back before it is too late.
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The unemployment rate is now 9.1%, and the labor force participation rate is 63.9%; the lowest it has been since January 1984! Every trick in Obama/Carter’s Liberal/Progressive bag has been used up. The reality of the matter is that Trotsky and Keynes were wrong. Progressivism will never work because it fails to consider the invisible hand of economics: free will…that can never be controlled or regulated.
You want to know what it means to “get government out of the way?” One small example is when a contractor wants to acquire a permit with a local, unnamed City. Several years ago it was as simple as filling out a small form, paying the permit fee, and leaving. The process took about 5 to 10 minutes. Now, the contractor has to fill out a long form, wait to speak with an inspector, have the project evaluated, and maybe get the permit before leaving, or take several days. The process currently takes 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending, and the permit costs more as well.
Who pays the extra cost of that contractor’s time, and the extra cost of the permit? Do you think the contractor will just eat it? No, the customer ultimately pays it. A similar scenario has recently played out on the national level with the permit process involving oil exploration. The Democrats and the Obama administration have blocked permits that will possibly create thousands of jobs, and all in the name of taking care of us? Bull. Thomas Jefferson warned us when he said: “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” He also said: “A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.” -Thomas Jefferson
Your suspicion of the automatic answer from Conservatives is unwarranted, and I suggest further exploration into the minds of the business community who are not in the political ruling class.
The art of compromise has put us in this fiscal mess, and is no longer a viable option. The Liberal/Progressive policies of previous decades and today have failed miserably, and must be defeated at the polls, or the country might literally be lost to socialism or worse.
I am dumbfounded that you said we should “get over the mistaken belief we are “self-made.” This is not true, whatsoever. Do you really expect us to roll over and give up our individualism, to believe that the government made us? Wrong. The Creator made us, and gives us our rights. This is what has been lost within the Progressive ideology in our schools, the media, and in government. Therefore, I agree that we should renegotiate our social contract with all levels of government at the polls in November ’12, and let liberty, by the Founder’s principles, defeat the Liberal/Progressive agenda for generations to come.
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For you Democrats,compromise means agreeing with you on all points. NO! There comes a time that you stand up and hold tight to what you believe to be right in the face of name calling and ridicule.
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It seems to me the only thing the Dem's and the Rep's have agreed upon is we must cut spending. The rub seems to happen when there is any mention of taxing the Exxon's of the world. These groups with more money than ever, donate money to the politicians that make sure their tax contributions do not increase. The current laws protect these deep pocket donors from even having to disclose who they are! This I feel is where the problem is happening. Very short sighted freshman politicians, ill informed, and wanting to make a name for themselves. Question for these politicians. What will happen if the predicted fall of the Euro happens? What should we be doing in North Carolina, and the US to support Europe's pending collapse, reference August 22 Time Magazine cover "The Decline and Fall of Europe (and maybe the west)". Our economies are all tied together, but in North Carolina, it seems we are ill informed of this connection.
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It might seem that the Democrats want to cut spending however, their actions tell a different story. S&P told us that they would downgrade our AAA status unless 4 trillion in spending cuts were made. The Democrats fought the cuts with vigor. Why? Then they said the Tea Party was “holding the process hostage”. This was not true. The Democrats were simply projecting what they were doing onto the Tea Party. The truth of the matter is that the Democrats want to keep borrowing and spending.
The Tea Party only stands for three things: 1) Fiscal Responsibility 2) Free Markets 3) Limited Government.
Respectfully, the rub happens when the Democrats start their sickening, jealous, class warfare against individuals, not business. The Founders never intended that we have a tax on personal income. That changed when Woodrow Wilson and the Democrats gave us the 16th Amendment in 1913, and should be repealed. But for now, please visit http://www.fairtax.org/ for what I think is the solution to the current taxation problem.
I agree that the lobbyists need to be stopped, and I will go a step further by saying that the subsidies for the oil companies should also be stopped. In fact, I think that all of the subsidies need to be stopped. “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.” -Alexis de Tocqueville
Why worry about Europe when the Federal Reserve has been printing money like a drunken sailor, buying up bad debt, and keeping interest rates artificially low? The world economy is tied to the dollar. The Fed’s policies are the root cause of the continuing fiscal debacle. The dollar has been devalued and the Euro’s decline is linked. Fix the Fed, and the world will recover.
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Now is not the time to compromise; now is the time to go to the mat to reduce taxes and spending. Otherwise the country/state will be bankrupt; we (state/nation) cannot afford to keep spending as we have in the past.
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