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Welcome to Brian's Bits, where Brian gets to share at length about various topics stirring inside of him. The Out-Of-Control Monstrosity 20 April 2011 In yesterday's article we looked at the possibility of a painful economic meltdown induced primarily by our massive personal and national debt. We went on to look at ways we could lessen the effect of this crisis on a personal level. Today, we will take a look at how the role of the federal government has mutated into a monstrosity that would cause the Founding Fathers to roll turbulently in their graves.  The politicians are arguing over $38 billion in budget cuts. That is around 0.26% of the $14.2 trillion deficit — barely a quarter of one percent! Let's bring this down to a personal level. Let's say you make $50,000 per year. Take 0.26% of that and you get around $130. With that amount, you're still a few dollars short for purchasing a low-capacity 8GB iPod Nano on Amazon. Or you could easily blow that amount in just one evening enjoying dinner for four at a nice restaurant. Saving such a trifling amount is not going to do much to get you out of a debt that is equal to TEN years worth of your salary! You've got to be a lot more serious than that about getting out of such a debt! The point is, our leaders don't even have the guts to chop a quarter of a percent off the government glut. If by some miracle they were so outrageously bold as to dare to chop 10 times as much, $380 billion, that would still make only a 2.6% dent in our rapidly increasing deficit. Even that would be way too little, way too late. As one commentator put it: "The [proposed] budget cuts are like trying to shovel the U.S. out of a debt avalanche with a spoon." If our leaders were to do the unimaginable — the impossible — and work on axing a 100 times more than they are now considering, $3.8 trillion, we just might be able to save our country from ruin. But how would we accomplish such radical pruning? I'm glad you asked! I have a number of suggestions. But first, I want to address some issues which are the fundamental root of the problem. The real problem is not the national deficit — that's just a symptom of a deeper, systemic malady. It's the government itself that needs to be overhauled and fixed. If and when that Herculean task is accomplished, it will be relatively easy to solve the deficit problem. 
Originally, the Founding Fathers set forth a very limited role for the federal government:
 Consider some quotes of our Founding Fathers:
Bailing out the financial system is not enumerated in the Constitution. Nor is bailing out the automobile industry. Nor is borrowing from the next generation in order to reduce unemployment in this generation. It seems we're intentionally doing the kinds of things our Founding Fathers warned us against. I will certainly grant that the United States of 2009 is not the same as that of the 18th century. Things have changed. But some underlying principles haven't changed. They aren't quaint or obsolete because our country has grown. And the warnings of our Founding Fathers in the 18th century have more consequence and importance than ever in the 21st century.  The American government is different from the lead characters in Shelley's book in this regard: it is not one or the other, but it is actually BOTH. Like Dr. Frankenstein, the government tries to play God in the lives of its citizens. And like the bring he created, it is also an out-of-control monstrosity that leaves a trail of death and destruction everywhere it goes, even when its motives are good. In the story, Dr. Frankenstein, and all those he loves, are destroyed by his own creation. Likewise, there is a very real possibility that the American government, nation and people will end up being destroyed by the very same American government that tries to play God. For a frightening example of just how monstrous this horror story has become, look no further than this report from FoxBusiness.com — Government Cash Handouts Now Top Tax Revenues:
U.S. households are now getting more in cash handouts from the government than they are paying in taxes for the first time since the Great Depression.
Tough, but not impossible. Where are the high-caliber men and women who have the guts and the nerve to lead America back from the brink of destruction, onto a path of fiscal sanity and economic health? Rembember Benjamin Franklin quote shared above: "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." But that's more than the $2.2 trillion households paid in taxes, an amount that has slumped largely due to the recession, according to an analysis by the Fiscal Times. Also, an estimated 59% of the 308.7 million Americans in this country get at least one federal benefit, according to the Census Bureau, based on 2009 data. An estimated 46.5 million get Social Security; 42.6 million get Medicare; 42.4 million get Medicaid; 36.1 million get food stamps; 12.4 million get housing subsidies; and 3.2 million get Veterans' benefits. And the handouts from the government have been growing. Government cash handouts account for a whopping 79% of household growth since 2007, even as household tax payments — for things like the income and payroll tax, among other taxes — have fallen by $312 billion. That is a tough feeding trough to take away from voters.  Common sense on a personal level also works on a state and national level. National parks, the space program, the arts, military marching bands — as well as many, many other deserving causes — are all wonderful luxuries that we can splurge on and enjoy in times of plenty. But the are definitely not necessary! So many things the government spends its money on are not at all vital to our survial or well-being as a nation. And yet talk of axing them provokes reactions of shock and horror in many Americans — politicians and citizens alike! This madness must stop before it kills us! How can we find the path back to life, liberty and prosperity? It will be a very long and difficult journey, but the trailhead begins where we acknowledge that the government does NOT know best. We must also renounce the government's role as God. We can do this by a radical pruning, which will severely cut back the government's control over our everyday lives. By doing so, the budget and deficit problems will pretty much solve themselves. The U.S. government, at both the federal AND the state level, has way too many fingers in way too many pies. It needs to divest itself of many of the businesses it has acquired over the years. Well, this article is already long enough, so my proposals for how to radically prune the federal and state governments will have to wait until next time. 
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