Creating a Smaller, More Responsive Government

Today I'd like to discuss Shelley's stance on one of the most important issues facing our great Nation, the size and scope of government.

As Shelley so astutely puts it in her smaller government issue brief, "We need real spending reform in Washington. ... Elect me, and I'll fight for the programs that matter most, and work to cut those that are wasteful."

She's right, we do need spending reform. But that's only one part of smaller government. It goes beyond cutting wasteful programs. We can do more. What about intrusive legislation? Government is infringing on so many of our civil liberties, and the next member of Congress from our district can play a role in stemming the tide of governmental interference.

It's more than spending reform, ending these "bridges to nowhere" (thanks Ted Stevens), and cutting all the 11th hour earmark nonsense. When one thinks about the tenets of small government, one of the most basic and obvious is less legislation, fewer laws.

That's one of the things the libertarians have right. Allow me to quote Ron Paul. Though he specifically refers to "racists" in this passage, the smaller government characteristics he's espousing are the same:

"It is the federal government that most divides us by race, class, religion, and gender. Through its taxes, restrictive regulations, corporate subsidies, racial set-asides, and welfare programs, government plays far too large a role in determining who succeeds and who fails. Government 'benevolence' crowds out genuine goodwill by institutionalizing group thinking, thus making each group suspicious ... This leads to resentment and hostility among us.

"Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than as individuals. ... By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called 'diversity' actually perpetuate racism.
The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims."

Well said, Ron. There are many "isms" that you could substitute in here. Americans are more than the groups we belong to, and a healthy dose of liberty would benefit us all. We don't need pork barrell spending, and we certainly don't need invasive legislation that creates division among us, that tells us how to live and that enters our personal lives.

Smaller government is one of the fundamental needs of this country. Ron Paul gets it, and Shelley Sekula Gibbs damn sure gets it.

I'm not so sure Nick Lampson does. Maybe it's all that polluted Beaumont air he breathes.

-Joel