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Who actually wants bigger government?

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bonfire

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The title is pretty self explanatory. How here wants our government to be bigger and why?
 
Not me. I want FAR less government, fewer police, fewer laws, far less spending.... hell I'm bordering on deciding that we ought to go back to a VERY small "standing army" and otherwise depend on local citizen-militias for armed manpower.


Just enough to protect us from foreign nations and keep just enough order to maintain a society is about enough for me.


As an ideal anyway... in reality it tends to get a little more complicated...
 
Bigger in what respect? More employees? More laws? More welfare? More police? More Firemen? Moire surveyors? More taxes?
 
The Constitution gave us a good start, with its definotion of trim federal gov't having fixed, yet ultimate powers, many rights reserved to the citizens directly and leaving all else up to the states to decide. That all collapsed, or at least started to radically shift, upon passage of the 16th amendment, cited recently as allowing PPACA and other unfunded federal mandates.

As liberals (leftists) gained power the Constitution shrank in meaning, allowing the "importance" (popularity?) of a matter to make it into a new fedral power (e.g. edication and income redistribution). The gov't, mainly federal, has grown ever more powerful and, of course, expensive to maintain.

What used to be small and provide only needed common services is now evolved into a huge nanny state supporting some from cradle to grave while taxing others to keep that nonsense growing. Federal political office now requires up to a $1 billion in campaign spending to attain. A small elite group of rich, mainly lawyers, pretend to run the nation, but are naturally beholden to those that allow them to spend more than 1000x what a term in office pays to "apply for" that job. Public servants have become the public's masters, forcing we the sheeple to pay them handsomely and worship their wishes that are foisted upon us as laws.

The govt is permitted to run up massive debt in our names and then explain, to us, that they are powerless to stop the spending madness, lest they must force suffering upon us. We, of course, meekly believe them for fear that we may lose some promissed future (or current) benefit if we cross them. We formed the nation based (partly) on objecting to taxation without representation yet now accept representation without taxation as "fairness", allowing political promises to be honored with cash paid to voters directly as "entitlements". Next on deck, the nation's medical care industry will be taken over as a gov't provided "service" to "save money". What happened to the days of limitted gov't and eumerated powers?

Federal spending per capita has risen steadily for almost 100 years, today we spend $11,194 for every citizen | Face the Facts USA

Terrifying: Increases in Real Per Capita Federal Spending Over The Past 35 Years - Hit & Run : Reason.com
 
As if there was some sort of way to measure "size" and that this is a sort of singular value we can adjust for our comfort.

Are you maintaining the same "size" if you remove the requirement to have milk pasteurization inspected and add in the requirement for 3rd story bathrooms to have windows large enough to act as emergency exits?
 
bonfire said:
The title is pretty self explanatory. How here wants our government to be bigger and why?
Click to expand...

More control over corporations and stopping the few from owning the whole production in our nation. More educational standards on a national level and returning vocational education to high schools and increasing math and science. More funds to help the poor and disabled. Billions in Small Business Administration to open up a competitive market place to drive down costs and raise wages.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
The Constitution gave us a good start, with its definotion of trim federal gov't having fixed, yet ultimate powers, many rights reserved to the citizens directly and leaving all else up to the states to decide. That all collapsed, or at least started to radically shift, upon passage of the 16th amendment, cited recently as allowing PPACA and other unfunded federal mandates.

As liberals (leftists) gained power the Constitution shrank in meaning, allowing the "importance" (popularity?) of a matter to make it into a new fedral power (e.g. edication and income redistribution). The gov't, mainly federal, has grown ever more powerful and, of course, expensive to maintain.

What used to be small and provide only needed common services is now evolved into a huge nanny state supporting some from cradle to grave while taxing others to keep that nonsense growing. Federal political office now requires up to a $1 billion in campaign spending to attain. A small elite group of rich, mainly lawyers, pretend to run the nation, but are naturally beholden to those that allow them to spend more than 1000x what a term in office pays to "apply for" that job. Public servants have become the public's masters, forcing we the sheeple to pay them handsomely and worship their wishes that are foisted upon us as laws.

The govt is permitted to run up massive debt in our names and then explain, to us, that they are powerless to stop the spending madness, lest they must force suffering upon us. We, of course, meekly believe them for fear that we may lose some promissed future (or current) benefit if we cross them. We formed the nation based (partly) on objecting to taxation without representation yet now accept representation without taxation as "fairness", allowing political promises to be honored with cash paid to voters directly as "entitlements". Next on deck, the nation's medical care industry will be taken over as a gov't provided "service" to "save money". What happened to the days of limitted gov't and eumerated powers?

Federal spending per capita has risen steadily for almost 100 years, today we spend $11,194 for every citizen | Face the Facts USA

Terrifying: Increases in Real Per Capita Federal Spending Over The Past 35 Years - Hit & Run : Reason.com
Click to expand...

And yet no criticism leveled against conservatives.
 
man, how I'd love to have a bigger.....

oh, you said Government.



never mind.
 
I want a bigger government--we need way more prisons to lock up those left wing autocrats in once we get our 2,700 mrap's to round them up with.
 
Public Schools and Roads....Heck yes, I want a big government to fund and maintain these things which have become essential to modern life.
 
I want a government that benefits the citizens without oppressing them. I don't give a crap if it is large or small, merely the net consequences of the programs it enacts. When I look at the United States government today, I see areas I want to expand and others I would cut back on. The size of government is merely a reflection of the policies themselves, not a goal in and of itself.
 
I want the smallest government possible. I heard an interview the other day while traveling on NPR, a knucklehead made this comment, "since the legislation will not really affect anyone it's a good law". Needless to say I used to think decision makers or commentators were intelligent. Our federal government could be cut 90% and we'd be much better off.
 
Mr. E said:
Public Schools and Roads....Heck yes, I want a big government to fund and maintain these things which have become essential to modern life.
Click to expand...

If that's all you want, you don't much of a government for it, nor even all that much money.
 
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson.
 
bonfire said:
The title is pretty self explanatory. How here wants our government to be bigger and why?
Click to expand...

Who? Individual people? Political parties? Political philosophies?

Probably you are looking for "conservatives" and "liberals" as answers in the American context?

If that's the case, I'd say I'm not sure. Liberals usually want more government on the field of social programs and economic stimulus, conservatives usually want more government in private bedrooms, a larger army and more military spending and less protection of civil rights. As was said before, it's hard to quantify size in case of government.
 
Discontented said:
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson.
Click to expand...

Read that somewhere and found it funny:

"Vote Republican -- For a government so small it fits into a woman's uterus."

;)
 
German guy said:
Sorry, I don't remember. I'll let you know if I do. ;)
Click to expand...

I Googled it and the first link directed me to an online article by Alan Grayson. I don't necessarily agree with the premise but think it's pretty witty.
 
German guy said:
Read that somewhere and found it funny:

"Vote Republican -- For a government so small it fits into a woman's uterus."

;)
Click to expand...


There was an article today in The Dallas News about that. It also mentioned how they want to interject into science text books.
 
I support universal healthcare, education and regulations over corporations to insure transparency and efficient use of resources. I guess that would fall into the category "bigger" government, so that's it.
 
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