What’s the matter\nwith government? Why doesn’t Big Government work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why don’t the\npoliticians fix it? Why can’t we run it like a business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s not because\nthe wrong people are in charge. It’s not because we have the wrong policies.\nIt’s not because we’ve failed to implement the right reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big\nGovernment is <\/strong>the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider the Five\nIron Laws of Big Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Big Government Programs don’t work.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Government Programs don’t solve the problems they were created to solve. They don’t produce the results they were intended to produce. They don’t deliver the benefits they were supposed to. Do Government Welfare Programs get people back on their feet and enable them to become self-supporting individuals? Do Government subsidies and bailouts of businesses make their recipients stronger and more competitive? Big Government Economic and Social Programs don’t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Big Government Programs often make things\nworse for the very people they’re intended to help.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Government\ndecided that too many poor people in America lived in sub-standard dwellings.\nSo it created Urban Renewal Programs – bulldozing and tearing down 4 times as\nmany dwellings as it built. Result? Tens of thousands of families without roofs\nover their heads. (See The Federal Bulldozer <\/em>by Martin\nAnderson.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Government\ncreated “The Great Society” welfare system to help the needy.\nResults? A culture of irresponsibility and dependency. A welfare system that\nentices and rewards people for getting on and staying on the dole. (See Losing\nGround <\/em>by Charles Murray)<\/p>\n\n\n\n How many stories\nhave you heard about Big Government Programs that backfire? How many others\nhaven’t you heard about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Big Government Programs create new\nproblems.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Federal Government created Medicare to help senior citizens and Medicaid to help the poor with medical care. Unintended consequences? Massive government funding for these programs drove up health care costs – for those participating and those not. It made doctors and hospitals accountable to the government – instead of patients. It breeched patient-doctor medical confidentiality. It set in motion the drive toward a Government Monopoly – “Single-Payer” or “Universal” – Health Care System. Toward Socialized Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Security?\nGovernment Central Planning of Education? Government Disaster Relief? The War\non Drugs? Mandatory Minimums? All create new problems. Unintended consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Big Government Programs are costly and\nwasteful.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever heard\nabout government cost under-runs? How many times have you read about government\nprojects that come in at 5 or 10 or 20 times the price initially agreed to? Why\naren’t Big Government Programs thrifty? Because they don’t have to be. It’s not\ntheir money. Every year, the officials running these Big Government programs go\nback to their local or state or federal legislators for bigger budgets and more\ntax dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Big Government Programs divert money and\nenergy from positive, productive uses.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Government Programs are funded with hundreds of billions of tax dollars. Taken from productive workers and businesses. Every dollar drained from the private sector is a dollar that the individuals and businesses who earned it can’t spend, save, invest, or give to effective private organizations and programs that help those less fortunate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charities,\nchurches, and service organizations strive to assist those in need – and help\nthem become self-sufficient. Because these organizations rely on voluntary\ndonations, they are directly accountable to their supporters. Because they\noperate on lean budgets, they streamline their operations, eliminate needless\noverhead, and seek better ways to help those unable to help themselves. They\nregularly produce good results – at a fraction of the expense of comparable Big\nGovernment Programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do these Five Iron Laws of Big Government fit in with what you believe?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Does this brief\nsketch of the costs and consequences of Big Government Programs match your\nexperience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you agree that Big Government doesn’t work? Do you want small government? Take the Small Government Pledge<\/a>\u2120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Five Iron Laws\nof Big Government<\/em> Copyright\n1995 by Michael Cloud<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What’s the matter with government? Why doesn’t Big Government work? Why don’t the politicians fix it? Why can’t we run it like a business? It’s not because the wrong people are in charge. It’s not because we have the wrong policies. It’s not because we’ve failed to implement the right reforms. Big Government is the problem. Consider … Continue reading The Five Iron Laws of 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\/93"}],"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=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerforsmallgovernment.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}