Some believe the central political issue of our era is the size of the government. They’re wrong. The central issue is whom the government is for. Consider the new spending bill Congress and the President agreed to a few weeks ago. It’s not especially large by historic standards. Under the $1.1 trillion measure, government spending doesn’t rise as a percent of the total economy. In fact, if the economy grows as expected, government spending will actually shrink over the next year. The problem with the legislation is who gets the goodies and who’s stuck with the tab.
People from my generation will no doubt remember one of Ronald Reagan’s “greatest hits,” the speech in which he declared that government wasn’t the solution, but that “Government IS the problem.” It was a triumphant rhetorical flourish…that was as empty as it was wrong. Nonetheless, True Believers ate it up, because it fed into their belief that most functions of government are best left to the private sector, and that the social contract was a prescription for enabling those too lazy and unmotivated to do for themselves.
(Sound familiar?)
Conservatives have long believed that government at its best is inept and inefficient, and at worse an agent of tyranny and oppression. Here’s the problem with that line of thinking: government is us…you know, “We the People?”? Government is not some malevolent force whose evil, unseen hand controls an army of jack-booted thugs dedicated to grinding the rights and freedoms of Americans under their boot heels.
Government is what makes the train run on time. It pave roads, funds our schools, and generally does the dirty work of keeping the American experiment from spinning off into chaos. Former Congressman Barney Frank once famously said that “Government is merely what we decide to do together.” Government is US. This is what 40% of eligible voters actually care enough to vote about; the rest would simply bitch and moan about why they hate government…even as they refuse to exercise their right to have a voice in that government. If you believe that government doesn’t work, and yet you decline to exercise your franchise and vote, may I cordially invite you to STFU?
Congress may have an approval rating just slightly above that of herpes, but the responsibility shouldn’t be laid exclusively at the feet of Congressmcritters. No, responsibility for the moral midgets walking the halls of Congress rests squarely on the shoulders of the voters who’ve sent them there. Unfortunately, the few Americans who can be bothered to vote have elected a collection of incompetents and reprobates who didn’t get into public service because they wanted to serve the public.
Government doesn’t represent the will of the People primarily because those sent to Washington by the People are wholly owned subsidiaries of Big Business. When Citigroup is allowed to write legislation substantially gutting the Dodd-Frank Act, one can no longer credibly argue that government if of, by, and for the People. It exists to serve the interests of the 1%…and the American Sheeple elected those who’ve made that possible.
Wall Street isn’t the only big winner from the new legislation. Health insurance companies get to keep their special tax breaks. Tourist destinations like Las Vegas get their travel promotion subsidies.
In a victory for food companies, the legislation even makes federally subsidized school lunches less healthy by allowing companies that provide them to include fewer whole grains. This boosts their profits because junkier food is less expensive to make.
Major defense contractors also win big. They get tens of billions of dollars for the new warplanes, missiles, and submarines they’ve been lobbying for….
Big agribusiness gets price supports. Hedge-fund and private-equity managers get their own special “carried-interest” tax loophole. The oil and gas industry gets its special tax subsidies.
Big Pharma gets a particularly big benefit: a prohibition on government using its vast bargaining power under Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate low drug prices.
Conservatives decry what they see as the reality that so much welfare money goes to individuals, most of whom they believe to be too lazy and unmotivated to get their house in order and get back on their feet. That’s a convenient myth that feeds their dominant narrative, but the truth is that only about 12% of federal spending goes to individuals. An ever-increasing portion goes to corporations and business interests.
So, to recap: welfare for individual Americans? Bad, evil, harbinger of socialism that will only enable sloth and create dependence of government largesse. Welfare for corporations and business interests? It’s what helps make American great!! How will American businesses be able to compete in an increasingly global economy if government doesn’t prop them up with tax breaks and sweetheart deals that end up lining the pockets of those at the top of the economic food chain?
The short answer is that government is in the shape it’s in because WE, the American Sheeple, have allowed it to happen. This means we also have the power to solve any perceived problem, if only we could be bothered to pay attention. Elections have consequences, and the current rampant corruption and venality is the consequence of voters not voting and those who do vote casting their ballots based on propaganda and fear-mongering.
If you want government to change, start paying attention. Find out what’s being done in your name…AND THEN VOTE!! The only method we have to hold government accountable for their actions is the power of our vote. If we don’t use it, we can’t credibly claim to be outraged when zealots, intellectual midgets, and moral reprobates swarm the halls of Congress.
WE DESERVE BETTER…but not if we can’t be bothered to 1) pay attention, 2) get educated, and 3) VOTE!
