Anniversary Post: ‘Big Government’ Rises Again

by Mike Flynn

[Ed Note: This is the first post to run at BigGovernment. It was published two years ago today. It still seems relevant.]

In 1995, President Bill Clinton stood before the nation and proclaimed, “The era of big government is over.” The following year, the federal budget deficit stood at 1.4% of GDP. Thirteen years later, in 2008, the deficit had doubled, to just over 3% of GDP. This year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal budget deficit will equal 11.4% of GDP.

As George Will would say, “Well.”

This is the real source of our “summer of discontent.” Yes, millions of Americans spent the month of August holding Tea Parties, attending town halls, organizing, marching and protesting against ObamaCare, i.e. Congressional and Administration proposals to reconstruct the entire health care sector. But to suggest that health care alone is at the root of this backlash is to miss the forest for the trees. To paraphrase Democrat strategist James Carville, “It’s the big government, stupid.”

Since last September when the financial markets stumbled, we’ve seen a Wall Street bailout, government takeovers of AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, Chrysler, and numerous banks. The Federal Reserve has opened its discount window to almost all-comers and has taken the unprecedented step of aggressively buying up the federal government’s own debt. Congress rushed through a “stimulus to nowhere,” moved closer to a “cap-and-trade” remake of the energy sector and openly talked about higher taxes and more regulation.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel famously said that, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Ronald Reagan said, “Government isn’t the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” The administration has turned this observation upside down, proclaiming that Big Government will lead us to a better world. In August, we heard America singing, “Enough!”

The mainstream media and politicos from both parties were caught flat-footed by the push-back from average citizens. Each news-cycle brought a new theory for the protests: “astroturf,” angry “mobs,” distortions and misinformation, kooks and conspiracy nuts, and, inevitably (and perhaps most offensively) racism (MSNBC amazingly even cut the head off a black man holding a gun to make the point that white racist extremism was behind the entirety the protests).  The elites have convinced themselves that, once Congress is safely cocooned on Capitol Hill, and engaged in some Kennedy-esque legislating—a tweak here, a nip-and-tuck there—ObamaCare will be back on track and the Administration can continue its march to reshape America.

The elites are whistling past the graveyard. The ground has shifted. It could just be that deficits above 10% of GDP are the new $4 a gallon gas, i.e. the tipping point that awakens the silent majority and recalibrates political dynamics. Americans are setting aside parochial self-interest and reaching to reclaim the legacy of the Founders.

“That government is best which governs least.” This phrase, attributed to Thomas Jefferson, is our nation’s founding principle. The American colonists did not throw off the mantle of British rule because the King failed to provide health care, individual subsidies or public works projects. They rebelled because he taxed ever greater shares of their earnings and increasingly injected himself into their daily lives. They risked, and in many cases sacrificed, their lives to free themselves and future generations from the whims of rulers.

The founding fathers did not constitute a government to give them things. It’s role was confined to protecting our natural rights. Rights we have inherently, not by grant of government. These rights secured, Americans had the freedom to organize their lives as they saw best. Their energies and imagination unleashed, our predecessors built the most prosperous, secure and peaceful nation in history. It was done in spite of Big Government, not because of it.

Reagan warned that “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Our generation’s moment of decision is now. How we respond will shape forever the lives of our children and grandchildren.

It is rare that a people rise up, shoulder-to-shoulder, and stand against the dictates of a ruling class. The media and most of the political elites at the federal, state and local levels have told us, “We know better than you.”

In response, countless citizens have mobilized to tell the government, “No!”

To these Americans, we dedicate this site.  Welcome.


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Posted Sep 10th 2011 at 4:35 am in Congress, Economics, Featured Story, Federal Spending, Obama, Politics, Tea Party, taxes | 42 Comments