As Thomas Paine said "Government is a necessary evil" and as such should be as small as possible.
As a supporter of
limited government, Senator Hatrack, I have found it more useful to refer to a government
limited in its power to intrude into our lives, which means a government
limited in and to its constitutionally granted authority and powers. This, after all is what they were shooting for in 1789, wasn't it? It is not only more accurate than writing of "small" government, but this also avoids having to deal with "robust" government supporters playing a disengenuous numbers game based on size.
Unfortunately, the Constitution is a flawed document (it required men and women of integrity and honesty) that was easily subverted and circumvented and now is mostly ignored by interests that found/find it useful to do so. As a result, we have a leviathan that we would not have had under limited government, resulting in excuses, rationalization, and just plain old spin from those who are enthusiasts of the state (you know -- progressives, Democrats, Republicans, socialists, new left liberals, modern conservatives -- the usual suspects). You've heard their rationalizations. "The debt is only x percent of GDP". "The budget is only X dollars per capita". "We spend more today because there are more of us today". Yada, yada, yada.
Yours,
Issohdos
