One Simple Question

It doesn't take a Constitutional Law Professor to see that government is inept. It is not unpatriotic to say that. In fact, it is the most patriotic thing the founders could imagine. The Declaration of Independence, written during the colonies' dissension from Great Britain, states:

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

The Declaration of Independence goes on to say:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

That's patriotism. Being patriotic does not mean being loyal to the government, it means being loyal to the country. Somewhere along the line our government came to the conclusion that they no longer work for us, even though we elect them, and we pay their salaries. Now, they believe they know better than us. They are smarter than the average citizen. They know better than us how to spend our money. They know better than us how to protect us.

But let's be honest. Government is beyond inept. Our current government (say, covering the last ten years or so) exemplify this state of being. The George W. Bush administration brought us to new, unfortunate and frankly sad, levels of spending. After the attacks of 9/11, Bush and the Congress led us into two wars. Regardless your feelings on these wars, they were justified by the intelligence of the time. Remember, though, that under Bill Clinton, through the orders of Jamie Gorelick, walls of separation were built between the factions of the intelligence community. Bush and Congress added around $4.7 Trillion to the national debt in a span of eight years.

Enter Barack Obama. He assumed the office of the President with a completely Democratically controlled Congress. The Senate, still controlled by Democrats to this day, has not passed a budget in over 1000 days. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV), actually said it would be "foolish for Democrats to offer a budget plan." When pressed about their lack of budget action, liberal politicians and pundits resort to two arguments. The first is that Republicans are obstructionists and won't allow a budget to pass. They usually temper this argument by saying that Republicans want to see America fail. The second argument is that of White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, saying that the Senate needs 60 votes to pass a budget. This is a deliberate misrepresentation of truth, as a budget can be passed with a simple majority. The 2009 budget passed by a vote of 48-45.

The Obama Administration and Congress has seen over $5 Trillion added to the national debt in just over three years. Obama has appointed numerous czars and cabinet positions, but then he scolds the Supreme Court, basically warning unelected judges that it was extraordinary and unprecedented for the court to overturn Obamacare, a law he claimed was passed by a strong majority of Congress. The law wasn't passed by a strong majority. If anything, it was lucky to have a majority of Democrats in place at the time, because it got no Republican votes. And also, the Supreme Court has been overturning laws it deems unconstitutional for over 200 years, so it is not extraordinary and unprecedented.

Recently, the Obama Administration started to move against farmers, preparing to make it illegal for children to work in certain places on farms. To enforce the law, the government would send agents to farms to guarantee that children stayed safe. Even a supporter of Obama has to see that this was a gross overstep of Congressional authority, and the backlash forced the Administration to step back from this position and allow families to conduct business on their farms as they have for the last two hundred years.

The Administration told us that the stimulus had to be passed to keep unemployment below 8%. It is currently 8.2%, and that's U4 unemployment, the most commonly cited statistic. The U6 unemployment is actually around 15%. The Administration has gone to religious institutions and organizations and told them that they have to provide contraceptives through their insurance, regardless of their conscience in the matter. This is an administration that has passed a healthcare overhaul law that forces American citizens to purchase a product, the first time Congress has ever assumed that much power in the daily lives of the American people, and if you don't buy the product you face fines or jail time.

Now, I titled this post "One Simple Question," so here it is:

You know that government is inept. You know that government wastes money like no other. So why on earth would you want a bigger, stronger government?