Friday, April 2, 2010

The pushback to big government


I have a very good read for you today. Daniel Henninger’s column in the Wall Street Journal looks beyond opposition to ObamaCare and sees a giant pushback forming to growth of government. 
Henninger: The left-wing critics are right: The rage is not about health care. They are also right that similar complaints about big government were heard during the New Deal and the Great Society, and the sky didn't fall.
But what if this time the sky is falling—on them.
What if after more than a century of growth in the national government, starting with the Progressive Era, the American people are starting to push back. Not just the tea partiers or the 13 state attorneys general seeking protection under the 10th Amendment and the Commerce Clause. But something bigger than that. […]
Powerful political forces suddenly seem to be in motion across the U.S. What they have in common is anxiety over what government has become in the first decade of the 21st century. […]
Make sure to read the whole thing. Henninger is correct. Many Americans see government as getting out of control. From the wild spending to mandating what we purchase, it all seems like just too much. Add to the mix political characters that reek of corruption and incompetence and you begin to see why so many Americans have become unsettled.

The left seems completely unaware or deliberately deaf to the lack of confidence they inspire. Take for example Hank Johnson’s YouTube moment. Who in his or her right mind would believe Johnson is capable of knowing what is in our best interest? Does anyone think for a second he read and understood all 2,700 pages of ObamaCare before he voted to inflict that hot mess upon us? Yet the left just carries on in their merry little way dismissing any concerns about the size, scope or competence of government as all so much racism.
I believe that what is brewing in America is a fundamental lack of confidence in the Federal government. Many Americans are finding the Fed more of a burden than a benefit. As Democrats continue to foist more of the Fed upon us, the pushback will only grow greater.

5 comments:

Just a conservative girl said...

Great article, and you are correct. People are becoming afraid of the federal government. Some to the point of excess in some ways.

Rachel Ann said...

I think it is called denial...a river so many wade in...sometimes drown in.

I think what affected me most was this line; "I mens that the current edition of the Democratic Party has disconnected itself from the average American's sense of political modesty." THAT is the key.

The individual issues are of course important, but what has riled me most, what has concerned me most, is the hubris of the current administration, from the top down.

Clifton B said...

JACG:

How can one not be afraid. We see incompetent and corrupt boobs telling us what to do. It is not a good mix.

Clifton B said...

Rachel Ann:

The hubris got my goat way back in Jan 09. It still drives me crazy and will be one of the biggest motivators for 2010 and 2012.

Janelle said...

William McGurn's article is an equally good read. I had a fun flashback of my dad's reaction to Taxman. He didn't like the Beatles, but that one song really got his attention. He really liked that one.

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