The Government will continue to grow... (generation, Reagan, drugs, lobby)

[Winterfall8324]

As long as the economy continues to develop.

As long as the private sector grows so does investment in public infrastructure, welfare, housing, electricity, and lobbying.

And don't tell me about Government outsourcing their work to a contractor. Yes the government does that, but those businesses are so heavily regulated they become an extended arm of the government that just doesn't show up on the books.

Anywhere with population growth and development is followed by regulations and then stricter zoning laws.

Take any major growing city in the sunbelt like Raleigh, Orlando, Austin, Phoenix, etc.

As their population grows so will regulations. If you are opposed to government intervention in life, figure out why it is happening.

[andywire]

Government doesn't need any of that to grow. They just conjure more threats to justify endless government expansion. It's the post modern American way. Only the government can keep you safe, don't you know? And the only way they can do that is by getting bigger and bigger and taking more and more.

[Somnifor]

Government regulation is the only check that prevents the powerful from preying on the weak. It is why business hates regulation, it prevents them from taking advantage of their workers and their customers. I've spent most of my life managing restaurants. I know that most restaurant owners would steal from their staff and operate filthy kitchens if they thought they could get away with it. The labor department and the health inspector are the only thing preventing it. This is the real story of American business.

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by Somnifor

Government regulation is the only check that prevents the powerful from preying on the weak.

Government IS the powerful preying on the weak.

[andywire]

Originally Posted by ChrisC

Government IS the powerful preying on the weak.

Yup. There is a fine line between "helping the weak" and hampering and harming those deemed to be less than ideal citizens.

[beach43ofus]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Govern...ending_GDP.png

IMHO, the key metric in measuring gov't growth is gov't spending as a % to GDP. Look at this historical chart through 2018, and plot 2020's spending of 45.4% onto it to see the most recent trend.

We are quickly closing in on the most gov't spending since WWII.

Gov't is rapidly reaching a point where its the larger than it has ever been, as a percent of America's total economic output. Interest on the national debt is exploding, even at low interest rates. The power of compound interest is working against us, because we are the borrower.

So what?

gov't doesn't produce, or grow, anything in our economy.

only the private sector can take $1, and convert it into $2 (simplified example).

So, if we take 45 cents of every dollar away from the people who can grow it, & instead spend it, we crush our potential for economic growth. We are choking off the Goose that lays the Golden eggs.

We have had anemic GDP growth for years, and this is why.

Government is consuming too much of our output.

If this continues, along with printing Monoploy money, our economy will collapse. The inflation we are seeing is an early warning sign. Usually, in times of high inflation we raise interst rates to reverse inflation.

We can't do that now because it would make our interest payments on our debt to increase...a lot.

The only way I see out of this is to dramatically reduce the size of gov't, and start very soon.

Joe Manchin knows all this, which is why he's stopping Build Back Better.

Entitlements will be means-tested, and dramatically reduced. All forms of gov't spending will be reduced by a fixed % across the board (the penny plan). Mitch McConnell signaled this last week, when he admitted that "our gov't is incapable of balancing the budget, or addressing the debt". Mitch mentioned a Constitutional amendment, and a Convention of States.

That is the only cure for this massively oversized government.

[Camaro5]

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help. "

-Ronald Reagan

[SWFL_Native]

Our government has quickly become the worst thing about our country.

[jetgraphics]

The secret rule of all government is "Grow or Die." So they don't need an excuse to spend more, tax more, regulate more.... well, yeah, they always look for an excuse.

Name a "problem" that government "cured".
War on Poverty?
War on Drugs?
War on Democracy?

[Somnifor]

Man, you guys love Reagan's greatest hits. Unfortunately he and you built the dystopia the rest of us now live in. You may not see it because you are insulated by wealth or the advantages of being old enough that you could build a secure life back when it was still possible, but I imagine that a lot of your kids or grandkids see it. The younger generation have turned socialist because you all allowed big business to become scarier than big government.