The other day I received an e-mail from a conservative friend asking for support for a movement to get a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being one man and one woman. Last night I saw Ann Coulter on Dr. Drew and she was describing how she wanted the federal government to step in and stop all of this legalization of pot that is going on in various states, most notably Colorado. Dr. Drew was slightly more tolerant of stoners and asked her if she was really advocating more government, to which she replied that she was. I am troubled that those who call themselves conservatives are advocating federal government solutions to social issues.
Usually this kind of sentiment is attributed to those on the left. President Obama this week advocated for extending unemployment insurance. In so doing he described the case of some lady who would be hurt if unemployment insurance was not extended because after 90+ weeks she still could not find a job and she needed money from government or she would not be able to pay for her car or cell phone.
I do feel for those in a tough spot and I sincerely wish everyone could be gainfully employed at a job they love and have all the money they need. Unfortunately, bad things happen every day, even to good people. It is sad that we do not live in a perfect world but, well, we do not. And we never will. If we extend unemployment insurance for another 20 weeks then 20 weeks from now Barak Obama will trot out another unfortunate person for which 120 weeks of unemployment insurance was not enough. If that is the criterion then we may as well extend all public assistance forever.
We cannot use government to fix every problem for every person to create a perfect world. Government exists to protect the natural rights of citizens to seek their own happiness. Government exists to provide a structure where everyone competes on an equal basis and the rules of play are followed. Government exists to ensure fair competition and a free market. It has a responsibility to enforce contracts and to settle disputes between parties in a fair and impartial manner, with blinders on. Government is the impartial referee in a free society.
Fairness is a fair playing field with impartial referees, not an equal score at the end of the game. Government needs to provide equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. We are now entering the debate over income inequality, and it is a fair discussion. As a society we should all be concerned with unequal incomes among hard working Americans. But the role of government is as a referee. The problem comes when government takes an active role in influencing outcomes, and they start giving out subsidies and grants and low cost loans and bailouts and tax breaks and incentives and on and on and on. Government is not impartial; it is an active advocate on many levels. This needs to end. We need to eliminate cronyism and corporate lobbyist influence, especially on our federal government. We need fair referees once again.
I notice in the news today that the Chamber of Commerce plans to oppose the Tea Party in the 2014 primaries and elections. Not surprising. I am a big fan of commerce and business on a level playing field but the Tea Party is threatening some of the sacred cows of corporatism and crony culture and big business needs to fight back. They enjoy the cozy relationship they maintain with members of Congress and the federal bureaucracy, and will have to defend it against those who seek a level playing field.
Chris Christie is prominent in the news this week, but my problem with Governor Christie is his stated concern with the “libertarian streak” he sees in both parties. Not a fan of liberty, Governor? Along with Peter King and Mike Rogers the Governor supports the big government-Big Brother NSA spying program; personal liberties be damned, we need security! While some level of security is needed to protect our individual rights, the idea that the NSA needs to sweep up all of our phone calls, texts, and internet usage is ludicrous.
Much has been made of the fact that this Congress did not pass as many laws as some previous ones. They are called a “do-nothing Congress”, which I would wear as a badge of honor. Consider for a moment the effect if each Congress for the next 100 years passed an average of “X” new laws each year. At the end of that time we would have 100X more laws than we have today. Is that really necessary? Do we need more laws to govern us each year than we did the year before? How many laws are enough for an orderly society? Consider the NBA and ask yourself how many new rules are needed each year for 10 guys to play a game of basketball. Should we have a quota? I say it is time to start counting the number of laws repealed.
How about foreign policy? It seems that our federal government has a wish to not only run every aspect of Americans lives but to impose our will on the rest of the world as well. We do not need to be the world’s policeman, or to fix every wrong across the globe. Many people see injustice around the world and immediately think that the US federal government should act to stop it. There is a word, sovereignty, which these people need to look up and learn.
Obamacare is a good example of our federal government taking it upon themselves to solve a pressing issue of society and with their involvement making things worse. The problem with health care was too much government to begin with. What we have now is a disaster than will end up being our biggest bailout ever. Just like the other big government programs it is an overreach of our federal government. If Montana or Georgia has a great idea let them try it and see what happens, so long as they do not violate our individual constitutional rights. We are the United States of America for a reason.
Back to the point I started with, conservatives always state they are for traditional American values. In my mind among these are hard work, self reliance, honesty, frugality, learning, loyalty, fidelity, and integrity, to name a few. But I do not want the federal government mandating any of these. Imagine laws requiring hard work or honesty. Growing up I remember conservatives hatred of The Beatles and Elvis and long hair and women in the workplace and equal rights for black people and although I was not around then, let’s throw in the fear of the Irish bringing their stinking Irish culture to contaminate America. Traditionalism is not something I embrace, though I respect everyone’s right to whatever values you want to embrace. Just quit looking to the federal government to codify them for you.
Government needs to set up the structure and the rules of play; the level playing field. After that they are simply the umpires who enforce the rules but do not pick winners and losers or influence the scores. Our government needs to wear a blindfold and quit trying to influence the outcome. And we need to quit asking them to do more than they should.
This country has amassed over $17 Trillion in debt in an attempt to fix every problem on the globe. Is it a traditional American value to hand all of this debt to our grandchildren? I think not. One of the core values that I support is paying your own way, and the idea of borrowing money those future generations will have to pay off rubs me the wrong way. We should leave our children a fair playing field, not a mountain of debt.
Tyranny at the state level is not a concern for me, as our federal system would not allow a state to abuse the freedom of its citizens; but tyranny on a federal level is a very real concern as federal power continues to increase.
If everyone got the same grade in a class, how hard would you study? If everyone got the same pay on a job how hard would you work? Competition is a good thing and I support it. Free Markets are a good thing and I support them. Capitalism with competition and free markets is a good thing, but cronyism and corporatism are bad things and are to be avoided.
We should work hard to provide a level playing field and to protect the liberty of individuals to pursue their own lifestyles and happiness, be what it may, as long as they do not conflict with the rights of others. That is the proper function of government, not the creation of a perfect world. A perfect world is not created when Catholic nuns are required to buy into contraception against their will. Leaving our children a mountain of debt is not a perfect world.
The problems of the world can be addressed by a generous citizenry and generous charities; as Americans always have done. We don’t need government to ensure a perfect world.
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