The Choices in November’s Election
Last May, we growled about a Washington Post op-ed by Arthur C. Brooks about America's culture war between free enterprise and government control. In this past weekend's Wall Street Journal, he and Paul Ryan discuss “the size of government and the choice this fall.” The context for the weekend column, as the newspaper points out:
"In polls, Americans overwhelmingly prefer small government and low taxes to the alternative. Yet they've been given big government, one program at a time.”
In the weekend essay, Brooks and Ryan begin:
“As we move into this election season, Americans are being asked to choose between candidates and political parties. But the true decision we will be making—now and in the years to come—is this: Do we still want our traditional American free enterprise system, or do we prefer a European-style social democracy? This is a choice between free markets and managed capitalism; between limited government and an ever-expanding state; between rewarding entrepreneurs and equalizing economic rewards.
“We must decide. Or must we?”
How is it that we’ve grown from a small federal government envisioned by the Founding Fathers to today’s Leviathan government? The authors explain, and conclude the column this way:
“Millions of Americans instinctively look to our leaders for a defense of our culture of free enterprise. Instead, we get more and more publicly funded gewgaws and shiny government novelties to distract us. For example, the administration stills touts the success of programs such as "Cash for Clunkers" in handing out borrowed money to citizens while propping up a favored industry. Yet Rasmussen found 54% of Americans opposed the program (only 35% favored it). Plenty of people may have availed themselves of that notorious boondoggle, but a large majority understand we were basically just asking our children (who will have to pay the $3 billion back) to buy us new cars—and that's not right.
“More and more Americans are catching on to the scam. Every day, more see that the road to serfdom in America does not involve a knock in the night or a jack-booted thug. It starts with smooth-talking politicians offering seemingly innocuous compromises, and an opportunistic leadership that chooses not to stand up for America's enduring principles of freedom and entrepreneurship.
“As this reality dawns, and the implications become clear to millions of Americans, we believe we can see the brightest future in decades. But we must choose it.”
Take a few minutes to read the entire op-ed. By the way, on page 73 in “Liberty and Tyranny,” Mark Levin wrote. “By wresting decision making from the free market, the Statist is able to exercise enormous control over the individual and society generally.” It’s time for “We the People” to exercise our stake in limited government.