I blame Chris for this...you can too...
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." - Patrick Henry
Government should work for the good of the People, not the other way around. In order for this to work, the People have to accept some responsibility for their lives and realize that they have been depending on the government for far too much for far too long. I believe in a safety net, but not a lifestyle that is guarenteed by the federal government. Government should make it easier, but should not make it easy.
Government should not effect our daily lives. It should not be in our bedrooms or our churches. Government should only regulate that which requires regulation in order to function properly and safely. No more, no less.
"That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves." - Thomas Jefferson
A word about jurisdiction...
The federal government should only be involved in those functions of government in which the state and local governments should not handle due to conflicts of interest or collective security. That's it.
We have let our state and local governments get away with being no talent hacks for far too long and it is time that we demand competence from our officials at all levels of government. Competence matters. We witnessed the devestating effects that lame government at the state and local levels can have in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"The primary function of the government is - and here I am quoting directly from the U.S. Constitution - "to spew out paper."" - Dave Barry
Again, government should make it easier...
There is no reason for the IRS except to spew out paper. Our tax code is ridiculously complex because we have an entire industry of government and business built around it. Is the Fair Tax the solution? Maybe.
There has to be a better and easier way...government should be about finding it.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." - George Washington
A word about term limits...
On the surface, term limits sounds like a great idea. People come together to serve the rest of the People for a set amount of time and then they are done. This would have an effect on the amount of cronyism and corruption in government. I'm not convinced it would be a positive effect though.
If told that you had the job of polotician for six years and only six years, wouldn't our politicans take the time they had and do their best (worst?) to suck out all they could?
The problem is that with term limits, we limit the ability of people who choose to serve to learn the job and succeed. Essentially, what we'd be doing is shortening the bench from which we have to select our players for the game.
We already have term limits built in to the system...they are called elections.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill
Up to this point, I've addressed social issues...now let's talk about defense and security.
The federal government should provide for the defense and security of the nation. They should do so by properly equipping and maintaining our armed forces. They should also be providing sufficient border protection, immigration services for legal entry in to the country, and port/shore protection.
We live in a world where terrorists are not afraid to take a jetliner and crash it in to a skyscraper. They are so bold as to dress up children with bombs and send them off to die. This is the very face of evil and we must defeat it for civilization itself hangs in the balance.
We must be ever vigilent. There enemy has to be right only once in order to inflict serious destruction and loss of life. We have to be right every time. Must we trade liberty for security? Not really. We must trust those whom we have asked to provide our security to do their jobs and if that means I get wanded at the airport, so be it. (I'm not saying abuses aren't happening...and they should be reported, but let's not get carried away and throw out the baby with the bath water.)
In the end, the role of the federal government is to provide for the security and protection of the nation; to promote and regulate international and interstate commerce where and when appropriate; and to provide a safety net for all those who need a helping hand in achieving the American Dream without becoming a lifestyle choice. Federal government should defend the Constitution and promote the ideals therein.
Local and state government has the repsonsibilities not covered by the federal government including but not limited to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure; the creation and maintenance of micro-economies; the provision of such services as deemed required for the safety and security of the local population (fire, police, medics, etc.) and the creation, maintenance and enforcement of a body of laws.
I've probably missed a LOT...and Mark and I are about to start on a project that will go in to MUCH more detail about a good many of these topics and a few more that I didn't cover...so be on the look out for that.
So? What did I miss? What did I get right? What did I get wrong? And more importantly, why?
