Authored by Michael Snyder via The American Dream blog,
We need to fundamentally redefine the relationship between government and the people in this country. Today, we have become so accustomed to big government that most of us can’t even imagine another way of doing things. And I am not just talking about the federal government either. Even in a red state like Idaho, the state government has become a sprawling bureaucracy that requires 3.5 billion dollars a year to keep going. And all over the country many local governments are “supersized” as well. But this isn’t the way that our Founding Fathers intended for things to work. They intended to create a society where government is very limited and where liberty and freedom are maximized.
Back in 2015, U.S. Senator Rand Paul made headlines all over the country when he tweeted that he wanted “a government so small I can barely see it!”
In my opinion, we need 99 more senators that see things the exact same way.
The reason why we want the federal government to be so limited is because there is an inverse correlation between the size of government and the level of freedom and liberty that we are able to enjoy. In other words, every time government gets bigger, we lose more freedom and liberty. And when government becomes the center of virtually everything (like in North Korea), the result is nightmarish tyranny.
We have been trained to believe that government should be working to solve all of our problems, but the truth is that much of the time government is the problem.
Those that are constantly advocating big government solutions to everything are actually promoting an anti-liberty agenda. If we can get people to start understanding this, it will result in an enormous political shift in this country.
We need to start having more conversations about the proper role of government in our society. Government does have a role, but that role should be very limited. I really like how Idaho State Representative Karey Hanks made this point just recently…
What is the “proper function” of government? It is debated on TV, social media and election campaigns. Many people don’t care much, as long as they have gas in the car, a paycheck, food to eat and a little spare time. Life is good! How many people actually take the time to vote in any given election?
Laws were established by our Founding Fathers to preserve freedom–not restrict it. They believed laws should be enacted only to protect against physical harm, theft and involuntary bondage. Government should not be a means of compelling citizens to perform acts of charity against their will—“redistribution of wealth” in current terminology.
“Redistribution of wealth” is one of my pet peeves. The federal government should not be taking trillions of dollars away from some Americans and giving that money to other Americans.
But that is precisely what is happening, and if our Founding Fathers could see what is happening today they would be rolling over in their graves.
Of course the centerpiece of the system is the income tax. In 1913, a very basic income tax was introduced and most Americans were taxed at a rate of only one percent. But of course once the progressives get their feet in the door they are never satisfied, and so our tax system has just gotten bigger and more complicated with each passing year.
According to Forbes, Congress has made more than a change a day to the tax code since 2001, and at this point it is nearly four million words long…
How complicated? Since 2001, Congress has made nearly 5,000 changes to the Tax Code. That’s more than a change per day. The Tax Code is now about four million words, nearly as long as seven versions of War and Peace or the novel version of Les Miserables and just under four times the number of words in all of the Harry Potter books put together.
Americans spend approximately six billion hours complying with the tax code every year.
That breaks down to 8,758 lifetimes spent on taxes every 12 months.
How much better would our society be if the American people could spend all of that time on more productive matters?
If I run for Congress, and if I end up winning, one of my long-term goals will be to completely eliminate the income tax. But we will need a lot more liberty-minded people to win seats in Congress in order for that to happen, and so I am encouraging as many as possible to consider running in 2018.
We also need to dramatically reduce the red tape that is absolutely killing entrepreneurs and small businesses all over the nation.
And it isn’t just the federal government that is doing this. Sometimes it is state and local governments that are the worst offenders, and I want to share one example with you from right here in Idaho…
Miranda Hale, Nadia Saakyan and Micalah Howard are three innovative women who launched a mobile makeup-application business that fits today’s busy lifestyles. The trio came up with an original idea: Bring the make-up studio to help brides feel just a little more beautiful on their special day, no matter the location.
Yet, senseless state regulations ruined the trio’s dream. Idaho rules don’t allow the three to apply makeup anywhere outside of a licensed and inspected beauty salon.
This regulation, and hundreds more like it, were not built for the modern economy. Outdated regulations stifle innovation and kill jobs.
This is the sort of thing that I would expect to see in California, but unfortunately it is happening right here in my state.
If we sit back and do nothing, then nothing is going to change. The reason why we have so many rules and regulations is because control freaks tend to be greatly attracted to the world of politics. And once they get into positions of power, they love to lord it over the rest of us and impose as many rules and regulations as they possibly can.
It is time for those of us that believe in constitutional values to rise up and take our country back. It won’t be easy, but if we want this nation to have any sort of a future at all we have no choice but to act.