{"id":321,"date":"2019-10-04T16:25:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T20:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/?page_id=321"},"modified":"2019-10-04T16:29:07","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T20:29:07","slug":"why-small-gov-1-exception-big-gov","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/why-small-gov-1-exception-big-gov\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Does Small Government Plus One Exception Add Up to Big Government?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\nMichael Cloud<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m in favor of smaller\ngovernment,” says one politician. “It means lower taxes for all of\nus. But to make America independent of foreign control, we must achieve energy\nindependence. That’s why I will vote to increase support for gasohol.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Government is too big,”\nsays another. “We must cut back on the needless spending and go after\nwaste. But America’s defense requires strong basic industry. We can and must\nhave a vibrant steel industry to provide the materials we need for tanks,\nships, airplanes, missiles, and other defense systems. We must have sturdy\ntariffs against foreign dumping, underpricing, and subsidies that injure our\nsteel industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We must restore limited\ngovernment,” says a third politician. “We’ve got to end the\nboondoggles and get rid of the pork. Yet none of us is free if our lives and\nproperties can be wrenched from us by Acts of God. By hurricanes, tornadoes,\nfloods, or earthquakes. That is why I am asking for massive funding increases\nfor FEMA. (Federal Emergency Management Agency.)”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these candidates says he’s\nfor small or smaller or limited government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLUS one exception. Just one single\ncritical, indispensable exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn’t small government plus one\nexception just a razor’s width from small government?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small government plus 1 exception\nadds up to Big Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the individuals who propose\nsmall government plus 1 exception are not all proposing the same exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have different exceptions. With one, it might be agriculture. Another might back protectionism for textiles. A third may want more drug regulations. A fourth, education. A fifth, military funding. Others may advocate expanding welfare. Or Social Security. Health Care. And on and on and on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try a thought experiment. Imagine\nelecting 435 “small government Plus 1” candidates to U.S. Congress.\nEach proclaims his love of small government plus his 1 exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We look at each Representative’s 1\nexception and find we have 200 or 300 or even 435 different exceptions. And\neach single, critical, indispensable exception is the highest priority of the\nRepresentative who campaigned on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way one Congressman can get\na vote for his 1 exception is to vote for the other Congressman’s 1 exception.\nSimple vote reciprocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, to get a majority of votes, a\nminimum of 218 “small government Plus 1” U.S. Representatives vote\nfor – small government Plus 218 exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it doesn’t stop there. Pretend\nthat, over a 6-year period, we elected 100 small government Plus 1 exception\nU.S. Senators. They would need a minimum of 51 “small government Plus\n1” Senators to vote for the House Bill. And that means up to 51 new\nexceptions added to the 218 U.S. House exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming that the President is\nagreeable, this means they voted for small government Plus 269 exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small government Plus 269 exceptions\nadds up to Big Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if they sincerely limited\nthemselves to one exception each, they produce Big Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine what happens if each person\nadvocates small government Plus 2 or 3 exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it’s even worse than this.\nBecause you’ll discover that politicians who claim to campaign for small or\nsmaller or limited government Plus 1 exception almost always put the lion’s\nshare of their time and energy promoting and lobbying for their 1 exception –\nand almost none into making government small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1 exception is always their\nfirst priority. Small government is their last priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is true of federal, state, and\nlocal politics. The number of office-holders varies, but the vote-trading\ncontinues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small government Plus 1 Exception\nadds up to Big Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s only way to get legislators\nwho will make government small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elect candidates who promise and\nlive the small government pledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I vote small government.\nEvery issue. Every time. No exceptions. No excuses.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the Small Government Pledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright 2005 by Michael Cloud<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michael Cloud “I’m in favor of smaller government,” says one politician. “It means lower taxes for all of us. But to make America independent of foreign control, we must achieve energy independence. That’s why I will vote to increase support for gasohol.” “Government is too big,” says another. “We must cut back on the … Continue reading Why Does Small Government Plus One Exception Add Up to Big Government?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/321\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}