In relation to some of the most basic social goals for the nation, such as taking care of the needy and providing services like health care to the population, the majority of both conservatives and liberals agree, but the disagreement is in how to do it. One thing that caused me to cross the line to becoming a conservative was a study I read back in the 1970s, which indicated that only one dollar in ten in the budget of the Department of Health and Human Services actually made it to the needs, and the rest was being consumed in administration and bureaucracy. My desire to see the truly needy helped did not change, but it was obvious that the best way to do this was not to use the government.
Now some would say that the needy would not get help at all if the government did not step in to do this, and it’s worth it even if it is such an inefficient way to do it. Though I may not agree with this argument, I can understand and appreciate it. However, the basic disagreement between those who want big government and small government is mostly about efficiency. There are constant reminders that governmental, bureaucratic management is going to be the most inefficient at just about anything it is given to do. It was bad in the 1970s, and since no Administration of either political party has addressed the reason for this, it has become far worse now than it was then—even with the incredible increase of automation and computer technology.
The government is now like a black hole, which sucks up anything that gets close to it, and it is never seen again. It does not have to be that way, but until the culture of governmental mismanagement is changed, we can expect anything we give the government to do to be many times less efficient and more expensive than it should be. How much better off would the needy be if all that is now being wasted in administration actually reached the needs?
The other main issue over big versus small government is intrusion into our lives. This was highlighted in the “Cash for Clunkers” program last year. For there to be a twenty-page contract required for this program was shocking, but an even bigger shock awaited the dealers who logged into the government website to join the program. In the agreement they had to make, there was a provision that made the dealer’s computers and all of their contents government property! The outrage was so great that this was removed quickly, but why was it put in there in the first place?
As expected, the Cash for Clunkers program became an administrative nightmare, and months later, dealers were still trying to get paid for the clunkers. The government may have had some good intentions at the root of this program, but its application was somewhere between horrendous and diabolical and certainly fed the fears many already had about the new Administration’s intentions.
As people are digging into the Healthcare Reform Bill and other legislation such as the Financial Reform Bill, they are finding similar time bombs hidden in the 2,700 pages, which seem intended to be such a mountain of legalese that no one would read it. These time bombs will destroy some of our basic freedoms. Only the most naïve or blindly loyal do not see this now, and it has had a huge impact in eroding the trust Americans have for their President and their government. This is the lack of trust all of the Founding Fathers seemed to share and was a basic driving force in the Constitution and Bill of Rights they left to us.
Those who seek to undermine the authority of the Constitution by saying that it is a centuries old document written for a people who were mostly farmers, which does not relate to the modern world, must not have ever read the Constitution. It was written to address basic human nature that does not seem to have changed one bit in the six-thousand year span of human history. It was written to rein in the corruption of power that would constantly be a challenge to our rights, and it has done so with remarkable effectiveness since it was adopted. It does this with such flexibility in enabling the nation to adapt to changing times that no other nation on earth has attained the freedom and strength that America has.
So why should we trust the intentions of any person who wants to change something that has been this successful? Why would we want to trust anyone’s word who swore an oath to defend this Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic and would use their office to attack and undermine what they swore to defend? How can we trust someone’s word who obviously takes their own oath so lightly? Trust is built on honesty and integrity.
A basic principle of the Constitution is that you do not trust anyone who is in power. The Constitution was intended to keep everyone in power in check, so that they could use power to do what was needed by the people, but could never use it to oppress the people. Those in power may be good people and have good intentions, but they knew anyone could be corrupted by power, so they drew up this ingenious foundation for government that has worked better than any other basis of law that did not come down from Mount Sinai. How are people, who are constantly violating it, able to get into the high office, let alone the highest in the land?
Isaiah 5:13 gives us the reason: “My people go into bondage because of their lack of knowledge.” The U.S. Constitution is a document that can be read in one sitting. It has been the most effective and powerful document in human history for governing men, and yet very few Americans have ever read it, including many who have taken an oath of office to defend it! How could any honorable person take such an oath to defend something they have not even read? Should we not also ask those who are about to take this oath if they have read it? Then ask them if they agree with it?
When we asked the members of our local Oak Initiative Chapter to read the Constitution, there was an immediate buzz about, “How can they do that?” They, our government leaders, could do these things that so basically violate the Constitution because the people are ignorant of it. Go to Google and download the Constitution and read it. You’ll be amazed. If you are unable to download and read it online, we’ll send you a copy. To obtain a copy, please send $2 to the following: Heritage International Ministries, Attn: Order Room, 375 Star Light Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29715, or phone us at 1-800-542-0278.
The most powerful weapon we have against tyranny is knowledge of the truth.
