Why should government be kept smaller, and restricted to only certain tasks?

[Politico]

Government is necessary for some things, but should do as little as possible, and should confine itself to important functions that private persons or groups CANNOT DO AT ALL. Examples include National Defense, smoothing the course of interstate commerce with minimal interference in that commerce, conducting foreign relations, setting national standards for money, weights, and measures, dispassionately pursuing and prosecuting criminal behavior, etc.

Occasional events like wars might cause govt departments designed to deal with them, to grow to a size appropriate to do so. But afterward govt must reduce back to its smaller size.

If you feel that government can do something better than private people or groups can do it, that's insufficient reason to grant govt authority to do it. If private people can do it at all, it must be denied to govt unequivocally.

The reason for these restrictions, is that:
(a) Government cannot do anything well, due in part to the fact that no one can compete with it, and will always be rife with sloth and inefficiency;
(b) Government's only ability is to restrict and punish its citizens. This is activity extremely vulnerable to abuse, and capable of damaging and destroying lives by the millions if not carefully watched and restrained.
(c) History grimly shows that when government is allowed more authority than necessary, the imperfect humans it's made of begin to abuse that power, virtually every time. And with time, that abuse only increases, often rising to disastrous levels.

For these reasons, the powers given to government must be carefull spelled out and restricted, with those it restricts retaining full power to change or abolish it.

All that typing and all I can see is founding fathers.

 

[Spiderman]

To put it simply

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

George Washington

Knowing that, why would anyone want big government?

 

[editec]

Power corrupts.

Call that power government or call it MARKET FORCES, it still has the same pernicious effect on those who wield it.

And what is the number one task of any system that has power?

To retain that power and to gain more power.

You right winging idiots think keeping governments small and powerless is going to change that?




You government loving lefties who imagine that giving governments power to protect you is going to suddenly change the effect of power on those who have it?



I cannot understand believers of liberalism or conservatism.

The history of the world shows us what power is and what it does.

And STILL you folks think that is true EXCEPT FOR YOUR GUYS.

Honestly

 

[dblack]

I think it's a mistake to think of limited government in terms of size or power. Government should be big and powerful and powerful enough to fulfill its purpose. Limited government is about having a solid consensus on what that purpose is. That's really the problem we're wrestling with. We've lost that consensus and it's tearing us apart.

 

[rightwinger]

Well, let's keep it domestic, the United States Government.

The US government has a symbiotic relationship with commerce. In that..in many cases they fund each other.

How does the US Government fund commerce? What commerce? All commerce?

Commerce is not possible without government

It is government that builds the roads, builds the bridges, dredges the harbors that makes commerce possible. Our military also keeps the peace that keeps the money flowing

 

[Spiderman]

The US government has a symbiotic relationship with commerce. In that..in many cases they fund each other.

How does the US Government fund commerce? What commerce? All commerce?

Commerce is not possible without government

It is government that builds the roads, builds the bridges, dredges the harbors that makes commerce possible. Our military also keeps the peace that keeps the money flowing

So there was no commerce before government?

I think you're wrong.

 

[rightwinger]

How does the US Government fund commerce? What commerce? All commerce?

Commerce is not possible without government

It is government that builds the roads, builds the bridges, dredges the harbors that makes commerce possible. Our military also keeps the peace that keeps the money flowing

So there was no commerce before government?

I think you're wrong.

Even simple societies needed government to protect commerce. All the way back to stopping thieves from stealing your goods, stopping raiders and opening up trade with neighboring tribes

 

[eagle1462010]

There is no argument that can be made to those who will always think Gov't is the answer to everything. They will never want limits on it's size and scope and they have never cared for the Constitution. They want a PURE DEMOCRACY.

If that is the case, then there would have never been a need for having a Senate at all. Only the House and a President. That is not what a Republic is supposed to be. What has happened over time is the trashing of our Constitution by the corrupt politicians obsessed with power, and wanting to Push their own agenda down the throats of those that don't agree with them.

They do this with TEMPORARY POWER of all the Branches for short periods of time. This was referred to the Tyranny of the Majority by the Founding Fathers. Which is exactly why they set up the system of Checks and Balances to ensure no one party could hold power in all Branches for long periods of time. Which is why they gave powers greater in the House on some issues and greater in the Senate in other issues.

Obamacare was caused by a Temporary Majority using Mutant Legislation as referred to by the Founders. A Law, so large an Complicated that no one could understand what was in it. They stated that these types of laws should never be passed, as the people would never know what it really does as it is so complicated.

The left says it was from WE THE PEOPLE. Yet We The People in Polls across the line don't want Obamacare. Yet the left say's WE KNOW WHAT'S BETTER FOR THEM, even though the people disagree with them. Then have the nerve to state the PEOPLE WANTED OBAMACARE....................

Nothing is closer to the truth.

Finally, the people in polls have absolutely NO FAITH OR TRUST IN GOV'T ANYMORE. The Congressional approval rates are some of the lowest in History. And yet both sides say we represent the people.

If they really represented the people, then wouldn't their approval ratings be higher than the little over 10% we have today.............................

Americans want jobs, and financial security. Where are those jobs...............
Americans want the Debt problem in Gov't to stop...........Have they.............
Americans expect the Gov't to protect the economy............Have they............Have they stopped the Bubble Machine and massive printing of money by the Fed...............
Americans want domestic jobs and low trade deficits...........Has the Gov't done so............

Quite Frankly, we have the worst Gov't full of Career Politicians who have done the bidding of the highest paying sponsors, who no longer represent the people they are there to serve.........

 

[bripat9643]

How does the US Government fund commerce? What commerce? All commerce?

Commerce is not possible without government

It is government that builds the roads, builds the bridges, dredges the harbors that makes commerce possible. Our military also keeps the peace that keeps the money flowing

So there was no commerce before government?

I think you're wrong.

Of course he is. Archeologists have uncovered evidence of widespread trade long before government ever existed.

 

[bripat9643]

Commerce is not possible without government

It is government that builds the roads, builds the bridges, dredges the harbors that makes commerce possible. Our military also keeps the peace that keeps the money flowing

So there was no commerce before government?

I think you're wrong.

Even simple societies needed government to protect commerce. All the way back to stopping thieves from stealing your goods, stopping raiders and opening up trade with neighboring tribes

The fact is trade existed long before government. Farmers, craftsmen and artisans brought their goods to market before the state ever existed.

 

[eagle1462010]

You might enjoy that video. As he talked about the EU and thrashes all the members for their actions in Europe REGARDING DEMOCRACY THERE.

The EURO DOLLAR. What a freakin joke from it's conception. As all the countries must now bow to those with the power of the Euro dollar.

It's worked well there hasn't it, and Democracy is failing there, as member countries fail economically one after the other.

 

[dblack]

So there was no commerce before government?

I think you're wrong.

Even simple societies needed government to protect commerce. All the way back to stopping thieves from stealing your goods, stopping raiders and opening up trade with neighboring tribes

The fact is trade existed long before government. Farmers, craftsmen and artisans brought their goods to market before the state ever existed.

I don't think it would be much fun doing commerce without a government protecting property rights. Just sayin'.

 

[bripat9643]

Even simple societies needed government to protect commerce. All the way back to stopping thieves from stealing your goods, stopping raiders and opening up trade with neighboring tribes

The fact is trade existed long before government. Farmers, craftsmen and artisans brought their goods to market before the state ever existed.

I don't think it would be much fun doing commerce without a government protecting property rights. Just sayin'.

Government is currently the #1 threat to our property rights. Before government, society evolved mechanisms for resolving disputes and protecting property. People live in villages together for thousands of years before the state ever existed.

 

[eagle1462010]

Why Our Founders Feared a Democracy

Our founders gave us a republic, with a representative form of government, and I believe that, under our Constitution, we have the best form of government that there has ever been. But an irresponsible people, electing irresponsible representatives, can ruin any government. We are today experiencing that very danger.

We have had so much prosperity and so much ease of living, that we have lost our belief in personal responsibility. With it we have grown to believe in the ability of the government to take care of us, and we have lost our individualism and more importantly, our Faith in God. Instead of considering the good of the country as a whole, candidates promise the people to take care of their every need, including their medical care. And the people, relying on their promises of milk and honey, and equality for everyone, vote for those candidates. They have forgotten about the long term good of the country, the rights and responsibilities of individuals to run their own lives, and are fast making our country a socialized welfare state.

We elect people who want to take away our right to bear arms. This will make it more difficult to ever overthrow our yoke of oppression. This is a necessity to socialist and communist countries.

We elect people that teach us that perversion is commendable, and who want to remove our rights to say otherwise, or to write otherwise. They want to remove the right of those who disagree with them to be on radio or television.

They have no real respect for human life, and particularly the lives of the unborn.

While they remove our rights to significant freedom of speech and freedom of press, they teach us that pornography, obscenity, and perversion are constitutional rights.

The freedom of religion allowed is to the extent that it is only within the walls of the church, and not offensive in any way to the atheists and nonbelievers. Practicing our religion in living our lives, and in conducting our schools and our businesses, is not allowed.

Contrary to the wishes of parents, their children are taught false anti-American history in public schools, and are taught that homosexuality and same-sex marriage are commendable.

These are the great principles of the Democratic Party of today

James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 10:

In a pure democracy, "there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual."

At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, "... that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy."

John Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

Chief Justice John Marshall observed,

"Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."

 

[Votto]

Government is necessary for some things, but should do as little as possible, and should confine itself to important functions that private persons or groups CANNOT DO AT ALL. Examples include National Defense, smoothing the course of interstate commerce with minimal interference in that commerce, conducting foreign relations, setting national standards for money, weights, and measures, dispassionately pursuing and prosecuting criminal behavior, etc.

Occasional events like wars might cause govt departments designed to deal with them, to grow to a size appropriate to do so. But afterward govt must reduce back to its smaller size.

If you feel that government can do something better than private people or groups can do it, that's insufficient reason to grant govt authority to do it. If private people can do it at all, it must be denied to govt unequivocally.

The reason for these restrictions, is that:
(a) Government cannot do anything well, due in part to the fact that no one can compete with it, and will always be rife with sloth and inefficiency;
(b) Government's only ability is to restrict and punish its citizens. This is activity extremely vulnerable to abuse, and capable of damaging and destroying lives by the millions if not carefully watched and restrained.
(c) History grimly shows that when government is allowed more authority than necessary, the imperfect humans it's made of begin to abuse that power, virtually every time. And with time, that abuse only increases, often rising to disastrous levels.

For these reasons, the powers given to government must be carefull spelled out and restricted, with those it restricts retaining full power to change or abolish it.

Don't be stupid. It's not about the best form of government, it's about the best form that money can buy.

The US government throws money at every person on the face of the earth thanks to Ben Barnankes printing press in the Fed. It's all about control and funny money.

Nothing will ever change until things go belly up.

 

[Foxfyre]

Even simple societies needed government to protect commerce. All the way back to stopping thieves from stealing your goods, stopping raiders and opening up trade with neighboring tribes

The fact is trade existed long before government. Farmers, craftsmen and artisans brought their goods to market before the state ever existed.

I don't think it would be much fun doing commerce without a government protecting property rights. Just sayin'.

To long to return to a small, efficient, effective government that was there for the purpose the Founders designed it: i.e. to recognize and secure our god given rights, provide just enough regulation to keep the states from doing physical and economic violence to each other, and perform those takes that secure our liberties, provide the common defense, and promote the general welfare, is NOT saying that we want no federal government at all despite what the statists and political class keep saying here.

We now have a government that exists only to serve itself and it draws more and more resources from the private sector to feed its own lust for power and the personal wealth of those in government. It's number one priority in all things is to perpetuate itself. It throws the people a bone now and then to keep them happy and voting in favor of an even more bloated monstrosity. It has not been a government of the people, by the people, and for the people for some time now. And the politcal class and statists among seem to be just fine with that. See that as normal for us in fact.

And again, the most absurd statist view is that none of us could possibly succeed without Big Brother's help.

 

[rightwinger]

Even simple societies needed government to protect commerce. All the way back to stopping thieves from stealing your goods, stopping raiders and opening up trade with neighboring tribes

The fact is trade existed long before government. Farmers, craftsmen and artisans brought their goods to market before the state ever existed.

I don't think it would be much fun doing commerce without a government protecting property rights. Just sayin'.

Exactly

You could bring your goods to market, but nobody would protect you once yo got there
Government also created this thing called money which made commerce possible

 

[eagle1462010]

Regulation of commerce is in the Constitution as part of the enumerated powers. Which is why it gave the Senate the lead role in negotiating trade with Foreign countries. It is specifically why they gave Senators a longer term of service.

They were also specific on State to State Intrastate Commerce as the Gov't was to handle Trade Disputes between states.

So how have the Leaders in Washington done. What is their score on this issue........................

If you look at our current Trade Imbalances and the jobs leaving the country, they have FAILED MISERABLY..........Of course they blame others. That's just what they do, but they changed how we do business by assigning a Foreign entity known as the WTO to decide what's best for us in the advent of Free Trade.

Why would we allow a foreign org, even though we are a part decide what is best for America...............

They have done such a service for us haven't they. As China places Tariffs and bans on our goods and services while we do not do they same for them. I remember a story a while back as our Gov't complained to China about these problems, and China simply said go cry to the WTO.

 

[dblack]

The fact is trade existed long before government. Farmers, craftsmen and artisans brought their goods to market before the state ever existed.

I don't think it would be much fun doing commerce without a government protecting property rights. Just sayin'.

Government is currently the #1 threat to our property rights. Before government, society evolved mechanisms for resolving disputes and protecting property. People live in villages together for thousands of years before the state ever existed.

Sure. And I'm actually convinced that, in a given society, with the right mores and beliefs, we could get along fine without a compulsory state government. But we're not in that society, and likely won't be in our lifetimes, so government is a necessity. It doesn't help the 'limited government' cause to fall for the strawman of arguing against that necessity.

Rightwinger, and others, are trying to push you into to making, essentially, an argument for anarchism - and that's not the point of what we're after. The point is to define clear purpose for government, and constrain it to appropriate means. What's killing us is the assumption that government is the end-all-be-all of society - that it's there to solve any given problem we face as a community.

 

[Contumacious]

If the private sector can defend the country better than the government, why have a government run defense department and all else that relates to our national security?

It was NEVER intended that we have standing armies:

The colonists objected to a standing army because

"A standing army in the hands of a government placed so independent of the people, may be made a fatal instrument to overturn the public liberties; it may be employed to enforce the collection of the most oppressive taxes, and to carry into execution the most arbitrary measures. An ambitious man who may have the army at his devotion, may step up into the throne, and seize upon absolute power."