Growing government

The political debate over more or less government right now is a fascinating one on many levels. But, interestingly, it wasn’t always like that. The basic argument of founding fathers, primarily Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, was whether we’d have a strong federal government or a loose knit confederation of states.

Hamilton favored a stronger federal government than was proposed in the Article of Confederation, and Jefferson favored states rights. They were not arguing over social programs or enlarging the government as much as what type of governmental structure would be put in place. Hamilton won that early battle, primarily because the founding fathers, most of whom were wealthy, favored democratic change but not as much as Jefferson wanted.

During the next 100 years or so, government grew but at a relatively slow pace. But in the decades that followed the Civil War, commonly known as the Gilded Age, the government and the economy seemed to be on two disparate paths. The Populists, mostly farmers, began asking the government for help from failed crops. The movement grew and government answered the call by stepping in and helping the struggling farmers.

That was Step 1 to growing the U.S. government.

By the turn of the century, big business had grown much faster than the government. Monopolies were everywhere. J.P. Morgan controlled 25 percent of the railroad industry and was probably as strong a presence economically and politically as the president. Henry Ford controlled much of the auto industry. Andrew Carnegie controlled 90 percent of the steel in America, and John Rockefeller held 75 percent of the oil industry in his back pocket. In short, by 1900 Adam Smith’s economics model of laissez faire had been turned on its head. America was fast becoming an oligarchy with the little man looking in from the outside. The few controlled the many and the few liked that government wasn’t closely involved in their affairs. There were no child labor laws, no federal overseer for food and drugs, no real labor laws to speak of, no discernable regulation of banks, no challenge to the growing power of Big Business.

Change was needed so the federal government, as well as the state governments, stepped in and began to create agencies that would to varying degrees regulate business, banks, and food and drug companies. Labor unions began to grow to protect the workers against the hated oligarchs such as Morgan, Carnegie, and Rockefeller. At this point, in stepped Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft, who championed this growth of government. This period was known as the Progressive Era, and no matter what side of the Big Government /Less Government argument you fell on, it’s hard not to believe that this change was needed. To help fund this growth of government, the income tax was begun.

Step 2 to growing government.

The next big expansion of government came with the Depression and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who increased the size of government to get people back to work. Today we have nine percent unemployment. In the 1930s, it was about 25 per cent. Agencies were created; jobs were created as well. But nothing had a real effect until World War II. Only then did America go back to work, finally ending the Depression. And now, at least compared to the past, the government was a monolith in comparison to where it started. Listen close. You can hear Jefferson rolling over in his grave.

Step 3 to growing government.

The next big step came with the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, who created “The Great Society,” or what could be more accurately called the great welfare state. Never before had government been more involved in American society. Never before had government cost so much.

Step 4 to growing government.

Since then, the government has grow larger and larger and has been more involved in our private lives as can be most recently seen with the passage of Obamacare.

Step 5 to growing government.

With each step, of course, our country has inexorably moved further and further to the left, to the point that many believe we are on the road to socialism. More government, less rights. More control, less economic and business freedom.

Some residents in European countries seem to like that, although some (see Ireland, England, Greece, etc.) are beginning to think the governments that take care of its citizens from “the cradle to the grave” may not be as wonderful as they once thought.

Maybe, just maybe, we should start thinking hard about whether we want a Step 6 or not.