Without Government, Would America Not Be Great?
Kirk C. Klingler
 

In a speech given recently by Vice President Joe Biden he made an argument for the need of the Federal Government. Unfortunately, to me, it defines the view that people like Vice President Biden have about the role of the Federal Government. Here is what the Vice President said: "Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive," he said. "In the middle of the Civil War you had a guy named Lincoln paying people $16,000 for every 40 miles of track they laid across the continental United States....No private enterprise would have done that for another 35 years." I absolutely refute that assertion. There were railroads almost halfway across the North American continent in the 1850s, at least into the areas already populated by Americans. These railroads were built by enterprising individuals that put up their own capital and took the risk necessary to fill a need. In fact, if you study the history of the railroads and the steamboat era you will find the Government was very hesitant to put Federal monies into untried endeavors such as the railroads and steamboats. It were these same risk taking individuals that built the first bridges over the major rivers for the railroads. Is Vice President Biden dismissing or ignoring the many great ideas of individuals that used their talent and vision to see a need and then provide for it, or to see a problem and find a fix for it? These are the type of freedom loving people that made, and continue to make, America great. I believe that these individuals made their great contribution to America and humanity in general, in spite of the Government

We have had multitudes of great Americans such as Samuel Morris, did he require Government vision to tell him he needed to invent the first means to send communication over long distances swiftly? Did he then require more Government Vision to invent a code to make the utilization of the telegraph possible? Thomas Edison and the multitudes of inventions he had in addition to the light bulb did not require Government Vision. Did Alexander Graham Bell require Government Vision to invent the telephone? Would the Wright brothers not have been able to invent the airplane without Government’s Vision? What about Westinghouse, Carnegie, Bessemer, Goddard and Salk? Did these men require the support, guidance and intervention of the Government to create things that make life easier and healthier for humanity? Without a doubt, NO!

What I think this statement by Vice President Biden indicates is a tone of condescension and Government entitlement. It is an attitude that “you cannot do anything in your life without Government’s vision or help”. I find this very insulting, yet unfortunately, at the same time this has become partially true. This is partially true because our Government has become so bloated, intrusive and burdensome upon We the People that many of us cannot achieve financially without either a tax break or a handout. If our Government did not burden us with such onerous taxes we could give more to charities and pay our own way more easily. Families don’t have enough disposable income, due to confiscatory taxes, that we must have Government grants and Government Student Loan programs in order to go to college. Think about the snowball effect that comes about from this. We need more Government because of too much Government.

The second perspective is the one of Government entitlement. If we look at the way Congress has manipulated the Federal system to their advantage this has great credibility. For example, the manner in which Congress has structured their own pay system so that the only way they don’t get a pay raise each year is if they vote against it. Also, they have instituted a thing called Baseline Budgeting. Each year, so that Federal Agencies do not have to substantiate the need for additional expenditures in their budget, there is an assumed need to increase the Federal Budget for each agency. There is no means test, no justification, nothing just an automatic percentage increase each year. Now here is the sinister aspect of this type of budgeting. Say the Baseline says the budget should increase 7% each year and due to politics or an election an agency only gets a 2% increase. Then Congress pounds their chest and claims they have cut spending in a certain agency 5%, when in reality it went up 2%.

Another abuse of power that Congress uses over the citizenry is the manipulation of the already convoluted tax code. There are over 3,300 to 13,000 pages depending upon who you ask, but come on, do we need a Tax Code that extensive? The Tax Code should be written to raise revenue for the Federal Government to do the business of We the People. Instead, the Tax Code is used for a few things that should be completely out of the realm of Congressional control. Congressional members, if on the right committee, can change the Tax Code to give an ally a tax break or to increase taxes upon someone they determine hasn’t “paid their fair share”. Unfortunately, that usually includes most of the people that are trying to work hard, accumulate some wealth and become upwardly mobile. An insidious aspect of Tax Code manipulation is how Congress uses the Tax Code for social engineering. If there is a behavior that Congress wants to encourage, such as home ownership or increasing home energy efficiency, they provide tax breaks for that type of behavior, if you are able to itemize. If there is a behavior they want to discourage, like smoking, they add an additional tax.

There are some unintended consequential taxing effects. You would think that the Federal Government would want to encourage people to save money, invest and generally build wealth. If so, why do they tax the rich at a disproportionally higher rate? Then they tax interest on savings and throw in a Capital Gains Tax. These taxes discourage people from trying to save, invest become upwardly mobile. Why is it that if a couple cohabitate and create a family they pay less taxes than a couple that gets married and has a family? Why do you think they call it the Marriage Penalty? I guess the Federal Government is encouraging illegitimate babies.

So, getting back to the hubris demonstrated by Vice President Joe Biden with his position that, America is only great because of Government is completely out of step with reality. I also assert, if America became great in spite of Government, will America lose it’s greatness because of Government? I further say, you don’t know the America I know. The vast majority of Americans would love to have more disposable income so that they too can build the American dream and not have to look to the Federal Government for assistance in attaining that dream. Then again, I have not spent the majority of my adult life in Washington DC so I might not be tainted by the privilege and sense of entitlement that seems to come from being inside the Beltway for so long.