Issue Position: Size and Role of Government

Issue Position

The size and role of government should be limited. The larger the government, the fewer the freedoms. The foundation of our country was in a limited government. The U.S. Constitution is relatively short in length, just long enough to fulfill its chief purpose of giving some defined responsibilities to a centralized government. In my mind, the role of government is simple: to protect the lives, liberties and property of its citizens, and to ensure due process and legal justice. Unfortunately, many politicians think the best way to win votes is by promising more and more government programs to the populace. This "programs to the people!" mentality is not the role of government that our Founding Fathers had in mind (a fact that would be better brought to light if we required all laws--or programs--to cite their Constitutional authorization). Contrary to what the bureaucrats say, the people don't need the government to take care of them. It is our self-sufficiency and independence that has made our country great. Indeed, there are already a lot of public programs out there, at all levels of government. They may do good things (or at least intend to), but the role of government is in creating laws that protect our natural rights and freedoms, not creating more and more programs. Some seem to think that the larger the government, and the more it controls, the better off people will be. Yet, the larger the government grows, the more inefficient it becomes. This is not necessarily the fault of its employees. There are tens of thousands of government employees who work hard at their jobs. It is the fault of the system. It cannot be as efficient or effective as the private sector. The government cannot spend your money as wisely or as properly as you can. I am not saying this as a cliché. I have seen it first hand having worked for the State the last eight years. The government should not be in the business of providing any more services than it needs to, and even those that it "needs" to should be delegated out to the private sector via competitive contracts. It is the only way to keep competition alive, and promote true quality of life. Those who want to grow government should learn from history, just as Thomas Jefferson did: "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."

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