Perpetual Preparedness: Happy Independence Day

There's the country of America, which you have to defend, but there's also the idea of America. America is more than just a country, it's an idea. An idea that's supposed to be contagious.-Bono

I love America and am very proud of the accomplishments of our country. We've had a glorious 233 years. But I am also worried about America's future. Our founders created a constitution to limit the powers of national government and to prevent abuse. But in the past 100 years the federal government has chipped away at its restrictions and collected vast authority that was never intended. We also suffer from a permanent elected class (thanks to Gerrymandered districts) that are largely immune from censor and an ever growing civil service bureaucracy. People who blow the whistle are fired like the current Inspector General. People who protest are belittled or ignored: Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) Runs from Constituents

One problem with our congress today is that many of the elected have no experience in the real world. They are elected young (with no experience but politics) and then stay for decades. These are the people who then make the laws controlling business and the economy based upon the requests of paid lobbyists or upon social ideals about how things "should" work.

Philip K. Howard raised the following concerns in The Atlantic:

Year after year, Congress makes laws but almost never repeals them. Washington is like a huge monument to legacy costs. Laws from the Depression will send tens of billions in unnecessary subsidies this year to farmers, organized labor and other groups thought to be in need–80 years ago. Bloat is also notorious–it’s nearly impossible to fire anyone under civil service laws, so layers of middle management have grown exponentially. Professor Paul Light found 32 levels in some agencies (compared to 5 levels in most well-run enterprises). All this accumulated law–about 300,000 pages of federal statutes and regulations–operates as a form of central planning. It bogs people down in bureaucracy.

Bottom Line

Watch this video for an example of government grown out of control.