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01-12-2009, 02:29 PM
First Person: Government ignores constitutional principles
By FRANK BOWN
GUEST COLUMNIST
In his Dec. 22 First Person essay titled "Bring on the Reagan counterrevolution," Donald Smith challenges the validity of Ronald Reagan's observation that "Government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem."
It's ironic that Smith cites examples of government intrusion that have simply made matters worse.
Subprime loan disaster? Think of Carter- and Clinton-era mandates of mortgages for everyone. Financial fraud and risky lending? Think of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and now the Fed and Treasury, putting taxpayers on the hook with dubious securities in order to bail out reckless but well-connected bankers.
Social Security? Think of millions of working Americans forced to entrust their retirement savings to a Ponzi scheme that makes Bernard Madoff look honorable by comparison. And the financial chaos of bubbles and busts? All made possible by anointed Fed insiders manipulating money and credit.
Smith's conclusion that "Government isn't the problem; corruption, lawlessness and incompetence are the problem" brings to mind John Acton's famous maxim that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The enabler of corruption, lawlessness and incompetence is concentrated power. By ignoring the Constitution's constraining principles, the U.S. government has become a fertile breeding ground for corruption, lawlessness and incompetence. The struggle over concentrated power always erodes the rule of law.
"Movement" libertarians (Ron Paul Republicans) desire a better quality of life for all, probably as much as any Democrat. But libertarians realize that government cannot produce universal happiness -- it can only defend the right of the individual citizen to pursue happiness. When government ventures beyond this role, it simply takes away what naturally belongs to ordinary citizens in order to furnish a grab-bag of lavish privileges for greedy and corrupt special interests.
The economic goods that make up a higher standard of living can only be produced by the enterprising efforts of individuals. Government can only confiscate what is produced by individuals in order to give to other individuals. Solutions to problems ultimately flow from the initiative of people who are free to take initiative and be creative -- something that is discouraged by the kind of government Donald Smith craves.
Frank Bown is a Republican precinct committee officer in Seattle.
By FRANK BOWN
GUEST COLUMNIST
In his Dec. 22 First Person essay titled "Bring on the Reagan counterrevolution," Donald Smith challenges the validity of Ronald Reagan's observation that "Government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem."
It's ironic that Smith cites examples of government intrusion that have simply made matters worse.
Subprime loan disaster? Think of Carter- and Clinton-era mandates of mortgages for everyone. Financial fraud and risky lending? Think of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and now the Fed and Treasury, putting taxpayers on the hook with dubious securities in order to bail out reckless but well-connected bankers.
Social Security? Think of millions of working Americans forced to entrust their retirement savings to a Ponzi scheme that makes Bernard Madoff look honorable by comparison. And the financial chaos of bubbles and busts? All made possible by anointed Fed insiders manipulating money and credit.
Smith's conclusion that "Government isn't the problem; corruption, lawlessness and incompetence are the problem" brings to mind John Acton's famous maxim that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The enabler of corruption, lawlessness and incompetence is concentrated power. By ignoring the Constitution's constraining principles, the U.S. government has become a fertile breeding ground for corruption, lawlessness and incompetence. The struggle over concentrated power always erodes the rule of law.
"Movement" libertarians (Ron Paul Republicans) desire a better quality of life for all, probably as much as any Democrat. But libertarians realize that government cannot produce universal happiness -- it can only defend the right of the individual citizen to pursue happiness. When government ventures beyond this role, it simply takes away what naturally belongs to ordinary citizens in order to furnish a grab-bag of lavish privileges for greedy and corrupt special interests.
The economic goods that make up a higher standard of living can only be produced by the enterprising efforts of individuals. Government can only confiscate what is produced by individuals in order to give to other individuals. Solutions to problems ultimately flow from the initiative of people who are free to take initiative and be creative -- something that is discouraged by the kind of government Donald Smith craves.
Frank Bown is a Republican precinct committee officer in Seattle.