Why the Bonsai Logo?

A tree, left to its own devices, grows to great heights. Its branches and roots grab every bit of sky and earth they can reach. Its high limbs and tangled roots are difficult, if not impossible, to see.

A bonsai is a very small tree. It grows only as big as we want it to be. Its small size allows us to inspect every branch.

A tree can be a bonsai — if we perpetually and aggressively prune both its roots and its branches.

Government, left to its own devices, becomes Big Government. It taxes and controls every area of society it can reach. The bigger it gets, the more damage it does. Because of its sheer size, no one knows what goes on within its massive bureaucracies. Not even the legislators who vote for it. They pass bills every day that they don’t even read, much less understand.

Small government defends our life, liberty, and property – and nothing more. It is simple and cheap. Its small size makes its functions transparent, their costs and benefits easy to assess.

Government can be small — only if we regularly and rigorously prune it back.

We must remove every Big Government Program that does more harm than good.

We must shrink any government function that costs too much or that grows beyond its usefulness.

The Center For Small Government seeks to make government tightly pruned and small — like a bonsai.

The new bonsai logo was designed by David and Lisa Simons from Re:Vision.