Voters are understandably frustrated as they head to the polls this fall. The evidence is all around us. Particularly the spectacular ascendancy of the Tea Party movement. As Libertarians, we need to find a way to benefit from this frustration.
The unfortunate state of affairs in America has resulted from the reign of both major political parties. Too easily, voters accept the divide-and-conquer strategy politicians use to corral people into “red” and “blue” sports teams.
Donkeys and elephants are sold as team mascots pretending to be in mortal conflict. In reality both parties work together to advance their agendas in lockstep. When necessary, one side “takes the hit” to maintain the illusion of accountability. The system depends on the delusion that people can “vote the bums out.”
Meanwhile, every government failure becomes the pretext for more government growth. If we don’t get distracted by the spectacle, it’s impossible not to notice the pattern: Every political solution to any problem involves more regulation of our life and more taking of our money.
What are the consequences of this vicious cycle of growth through failure? Most Americans are familiar with the oft-chanted phrase, “We’re #1!” Consider this: the US is #1 in government debt and deficits; #1 in unfunded liabilities, most importantly Medicare and Social Security; #1 in building and maintaining the biggest WMD stockpile in the world; #1 in bombs dropped and missiles fired on other nations; #1 in causing civilian casualties and property destruction; #1 in “defense” spending; #1 in lawyers per capita, with over 1.1 million total; #1 in law suits filed; #1 in political lobbyists, special interest groups and campaign donations; #1 in taxpayer bailouts of the politically connected “too big to fail” corporations; #1 in people imprisoned – “The United States has 4% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s incarcerated population,” according to Wikipedia.
Recently, as our President signed the unemployment extension, he justified the expense by claiming the “World’s richest country” should do better at taking care of the unemployed. Since we have more debt than any other country … ever, perhaps it would have been more accurate to portray the USA as the “World’s poorest country”.
Anyone who believes “the government is the people,” might conclude Americans are war-crazed, lawsuit-happy, debt-addicted criminals. This characterization certainly bears no resemblance to the American people I know. These problems stem from our collective inability to get our message out to the voters and the voters’ acceptance of the nanny-state.
We can do better; we must do better.
Now for the Weekly TidBits:
*In case your inbox missed this piece making its way around the internet: The following table lists all past presidents for the last 100 years and the percentage of each president’s cabinet appointees who had previously worked in the private sector – you know, providing a product or service to a willing customer at a profit. Not a government job?
Roosevelt – 38%
Taft – 40%
Wilson – 52%
Harding – 49%
Coolidge – 48%
Hoover – 42%
FDR – 50%
Truman – 50%
Eisenhower – 57%
Kennedy – 30%
LBJ – 47%
Nixon – 53%
Ford – 42%
Carter – 32%
Reagan – 56%
GHWB – 51%
Clinton – 39%
GWB – 55%
And the winner is………….
Obama – 8%*
This is the guy who wants to tell YOU how to run YOUR life and your business!
Only one in twelve in the Obama Cabinet has ever had a real job. Yep, 8%!
* Recently, Ross Douthat made an interesting observation in The International Herald Tribune:
“In case after case, Washington’s web of subsidies and tax breaks effectively takes money from the middle class and hands it out to speculators and have-mores. We subsidize drug companies, oil companies, agribusinesses disguised as ‘family farms’ and ‘clean energy’ firms that aren’t energy efficient at all. We give tax breaks to immensely profitable corporations that don’t need the money and boondoggles that wouldn’t exist without government favoritism. And we do more of it every day…”
