Size Doesn't Matter

Size Doesn't Matter -- The Des Moines Register's editorial board explains in December 10 editorial, how the political (and governing) process has broken down -- and what's at stake in the 2004 presidential election. Some excerpts:

[W]the GOP in full control of both the White House and Congress, the government is growing faster than ever.

So maybe we can stop having the tiresome argument over Big Government vs. Small Government.... The argument was always a little off-point anyway. The size of the government matters, but not as much as something else - whose side the government is on. Does it work for the general public or the favored few.

Government didn't get big in a vacuum.... Government started to grow in the age of the robber barons when people demanded an ICC to protect them from being gouged by the railroad monopolies. Then came such things as antitrust laws, banking regulations, a progressive income tax, wage and hour laws... all intended to look out for the interests of ordinary Americans who, as individuals, were powerless against big guys who might be tempted to gouge them, cheat them, underpay them, overwork them or pollute their environment....

It took a while, but the big guys eventually figured out a way to fight back. They began pushing the philosophy of small government. If the government were smaller, it would bother the big guys a lot less.

The movement was couched in terms such as "deregulation" and "getting government off our backs" and "cutting taxes." It has had great success....

Here's the interesting twist: The small-government advocates ended up in full charge of the government - yet it keeps growing. Perhaps they discovered they really didn't want a small government. They just wanted a government they could co-opt. Such a government doesn't get in their hair and can be milked for billions in subsidies.

So ordinary Americans now, arguably, have the worst of both worlds. They have a big government that has been taken over by the very same big guys the government was originally enlarged to protect them against.

That's one way of looking at things, anyway.

And, in varying degrees, it is essentially the interpretation of events being offered by the Democratic presidential contenders.

That's what front-runner Howard Dean's slogan - "take America back" - is all about.

If that interpretation continues to resonate, the Democratic mantra of "It's the economy, stupid" may be replaced by "Hey, stupid, whose side should the government be on?"

Makes sense to me. After all, the fifth definition of "governor," according to the American Heritage Dictionary is "A feedback device on a machine or engine that is used to provide automatic control, as of speed, pressure, or temperature." It's about putting limits on the powerful parts of the system for the protection of the smaller and of the whole. (via Dean's Blog for America)