The Condemnation of Big Government
May 18, 2013 2 Comments
From the beginning of the progressive movement more than a century ago their goal has been a massive Federal government run by experts and a legion of bureaucrats. They have long wanted to control our every move via regulation. As for us little people, we’re supposed to trust our betters running the government because after all they’re experts. We’re also supposed to trust that these people will be fair in their application of the regulations they expertly write and enforce. This is the government Obama and his progressive administration so desperately want. Yet when it comes down to administering such a government, it’s become quite clear that everyone from the top to the lowest level bureaucrat is incapable of fairly enforcing the never ending pages of government regulation.
The IRS scandal is a good example of the problem with massive government. Steven Miller, the man Obama didn’t actually fire but who was leaving at the end of his term in June, testified before Congress yesterday. He claims the IRS did nothing illegal in targeting conservative groups. He may very well be right, there may be no Federal law or regulation preventing this targeting. Us little people are expected to trust the IRS to fairly apply the regulations they create, yet it’s clear we can’t trust them. The IRS asked one pro-life group for the content of their prayers. They targeted conservative hispanic groups and engaged in political intimidation for years. The IRS stalled conservative groups for years but of course gave speedy approval to Obama’s groups.
Obama acted outraged when he “discovered” the IRS scandal allegedly last week. Funny thing about the original public disclosure, it was via a planted question. The IRS knew about the targeting in 2011 and did nothing about it. The White House knew in June 2012 and did nothing about it. Why? Because it would hurt Obama’s re-election chances. Just like the Benghazi talking points memo, the Obama administration wanted to keep information from the American people because it would hurt the President’s re-election chances. So they don’t tell us about terrorism or al Qaeda ties in Benghazi, they don’t tell us about subpoena’s of AP journalists phone records over a “leak.” The interesting thing about that scandal is that the administration was simply paying the AP back for reporting the story one day before the administration planned on crowing about the foiled al Qaeda plot. Beat the administration to the punch and they’ll harass you.
Not even Chris Matthews is buying the administration line on the IRS scandal. Where Matthews and the left will get this scandal wrong is that they’ll blame low level bureaucrats and mistakes made within the Obama administration. What the public ought to take away from these scandals is that big government cannot be trusted. They’ll use the IRS to target political groups they don’t like then cover it up until after an election. They’ll punish the press for printing stories the government doesn’t want printed. They’ll not provide the public with information that makes the government and its leaders look bad. Then when called out for all of their misdeeds, the government and its leaders will either blame the opposition or claim their own incompetence. Of course don’t you dare suggest smaller government, that would be an outrage. You should be controlled by your betters in government, they know best! If they target conservatives in the IRS nonprofit office, they’ll get promoted to the Obamacare department of the IRS. Don’t question our betters.
Perhaps there is something positive to having Obama in the White House. We’re getting a chance to see that the progressive vision of big government doesn’t work. The progressives are incapable of managing the massive government they so badly want. They’re also incapable of fairly applying the laws and regulations they pass. They don’t need the Tea Party protesting in Washington to destroy the public’s idea of big government. The progressives merely need to expose themselves via their own expansion and mismanagement of government. They’ve shown themselves incompetent and unfair. They’ve shown themselves willing to target, with the massive power of government, anyone who questions them or challenges them. It’s been a long time since such a good case was made for the conservative vision of smaller government. Obama has been good for something after all.