Size of the Federal Government

Today the President proposed a two year pay freeze on the salaries of civilian government workers. To quote the old Saturday Night Live skit, "well isn't that special". USA Today noted that the average government employee receives in pay and benefits about 150% the pay of their private sector counterpart. The number of government employees making $150,000 or more has increased ten fold in the past five years and doubled in the past two. By the way, who has been in control of the federal purse during those years. The House majority leader, at least by inference, has noted that the federal work force is vital to the country. We have added another 100,000 or so in the last couple of years.

All the while poll after poll has shown that the American taxpayer feels government is way too big and that it continues to grow while the private sector struggles. What are we getting in return for the money spent? Most obviously the main product of big government is its attack on individual freedom. Article I, Sec. 8 of the constitution enumerates eighteen powers given to the federal government. By the wildest stretch do you see control of the amount of water in your commode, the light bulb you use in your lamp, the caloric intake of your diet, and on and on within those enumerations. This is an attack on your individual rights. It is masked as contributing to your and your families security. With freedom comes risk. People in prison have security. They're fed, clothed and attended to medically, but they are not free.

In the first place much of what the government has attempted to do, neglecting their right to do it, is demeaning to the citizens. Where has government shown its superiority in judgment and intellect in running your business? Is it in the post office. If the legislation protecting it from competition were repealed, private businesses such as FedEx and UPS would run them out of business in six months. Other than its specifically enumerated functions has the federal government or the state government shown superior expertise and achievement over private enterprise. In your private life is the government superior to the parent in monitoring your child's diet. In the realm of the law of unintended consequences, did they foresee that with a smaller commode tank you would just flush twice, using more water than the larger tank. Did they foresee that their was more danger in the disposition of the new light bulbs than the energy saved by trashing the old. Were they smart enough to know that the amount of energy used to produce a gallon of ethanol was greater than the amount saved as an additive, ignoring the impact on food prices as the farm industry swapped food production for government subsidized ethanol production. It couldn't be that special interests benefitted at the expense of the consumer could it.

Probably a fourth or more of what the government does could be outsourced to the private sector and in the context of competitive free enterprise, be done more efficiently and more cost effectively. If we want to recover from the current economic malaise, we should reduce the size of government, de-fang its onerous regulatory tentacles, and let the miracles of the free enterprise system restore the country to the giant growth engine that it has been.