Freedom

This country was founded by people seeking to steer their own courses. They wanted opportunity without too much meddling by their government.

The basis for America was Freedom.

America was founded by people seeking freedom. Freedom from tyranny; freedom to pursue opportunities; freedom to believe what you want to believe; freedom to speak your mind without repercussion. The government's only job was supposed to be to protect these freedoms. The Constitution was written to define the government's responsibilities. Those responsibilities started out very simple. Our government continues to broaden it's scope which is what seems to be causing most of the problems.

More and more the government imposes itself in our lives under the guise of protecting us from ourselves. The government (both parties are guilty) has grown to parent its citizens rather than merely refereeing disputes to protect freedom. So many of our fellow citizens now demand the government take care of them. The entitlements we now provide would shock our founding fathers.

Our government has become a behemoth that is growing out of control. Each generation of leaders increases the size and scope of this monster and it's reaching a point where we as citizens are struggling to support it. I am so very frustrated with our system and I believe democracy is failing not because it is flawed but because we are not preserving it. Politicians perpetuate class envy, and promise to provide for all of the voter's needs. They claim we can have everything we want without any cost because they will always tax the other guy.

Taxing the other guy is not the answer. Often the other guy is the "Rich", but taxing the rich really increases the burden on the poor for many reasons. The "Rich" are so loosely defined by politicians that probably 60% of people are defined as "Rich" at various times. Another "other guy" frequntly targeted for new taxes are businesses. This might be the worst group to burden with extra taxes since businesses don't pay taxes; they merely raise the price of goods to pass the cost on to the consumer.

Voters need to realize that our growing government is fed by all of us. In addition to all of our current expenses, the rising costs for our health care and the aging of our population will cause government spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to rise substantially. These entitlement programs are choking the United States like pensions and health care benefits have choked many of our indutries over the last few decades. If we don't take action to reduce the size of our government in coming decades, the economy will eventually suffer serious damage.

Trajectory of Government Growth