There’s been a lot of talk recently about the size of government - recently, in this case, meaning since about, oh, 1776. Today’s Tea Party folks seem to think that big, bloated government is the root of all that ails us. President Obama seems to think that there is no problem too big (or small) for government to fix.
This may, in fact, be the longest running debate in the United States: What exactly is the role of government in our lives, what services do we want it to provide and how much do we want to pay for it? Because once you have a Constitution and 27 amendments to it, the first 10 of which comprise our Bill of Rights, you assume a government to protect and enforce those rights - in short, to govern.
The subject of government size and reach most recently came up in the debate over health care and health insurance. I recall one anti-Obama guy shouting at a person in a wheelchair at an Ohio rally, “Health care is not a right!”
And I wondered: What about public education - is that a right?
Good roads and street lights? Bike paths?
Clean running water? Health and sanitation - garbage collection and landfills? Flu vaccines?
Public safety - cops, fire-fighters and EMTs? Jails and prisons?
Tsunami and hurricane warning systems?
Parks and pools? Libraries?
Airports and harbors? Sewage treatment?
Bus service?
A train?
Where do we draw the line? And at what point exactly does government get “too big”?
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