The State Of The Union Or The State Of Big Government?

Toogood Reports ^ | January 28, 2003 | Chuck Baldwin

[Stand Watch Listen]

As we approach another State of the Union speech, we need to remind ourselves that before becoming President of the United States, G. W. Bush declared, "Big government is not the answer." However, since taking the oath of office, the growth of the federal government has exploded in ways never seen before.

A recent article in the Houston Chronicle stated:

"Now, just past the midway point of his first term in office, Bush is presiding over the largest, most expensive-and, some would say, most intrusive-federal government in history."

During last year alone, federal spending skyrocketed 14 percent. During the past five years, it jumped a whopping 45 percent! Shortly after delivering his State of The Union speech, Bush will submit an unprecedented $2.1 trillion budget to Congress.

Add to staggering budget numbers proliferating police powers and Bush's record becomes even more ominous. One would have to go back to Hitler's Nazi Germany to find a modern day parallel to such massive growth in federal police power.

The magnitude of the federal government is also seen in the never-ending waves of alphabet agencies that constantly crash upon the shores of the nation. APHIS, BIA, CIAO, CPSC, DOD, DOE, DOJ, EAO, EEOC, FEC, FLETC, GPO, GSA, HHS, IMP, NDPO, NEA, NHTSA, NIH, NIPC, NOAA, ODP, OEP, OPM, PBGC, SBA, NCS, NIPC, FBI, CIOS, DHS, INS, FEMA, ATF, DEA to name but a few. Furthermore, the Supreme Court and the White House have become governments unto themselves with virtually no accountability.

The one body of government designed by the Founding Fathers to possess the most power and influence is Congress. It is, after all, supposed to be the one branch of government that directly represents the people. However, for all practical purposes, Congress need not exist! A compelling argument could even be made that America is no longer governed by representative government at all but by presidential and judicial fiat.

If the State of the Union is judged by how big and intrusive the federal government has become, all is well. However, if the criteria of judgment is how much freedom remains, it is a bleak picture indeed.

Therefore, it would appear that the State of the Union speech would be more accurately called The State of Big Government Address, as the annual message has become little more than an outline of increased government expansion and cost.

[justshe]

~~~~and it is all being done by a republican congress and a republican president...~~~~

Yep....the Republican Congess and the Republican President have accomplished a LOT during 2003, their first 20 days 'in power'. These guys are GOOD, aren't they?

/sarcasm off

You obviously have missed all the speeches where GWB argued for fiscal discipline, for NO PORK, telling Congress he would veto spending bills if they came to him bloated with special interest spending, where he argued to CUT spending.

All of this is hard to do with a Dem Senate. By my reckoning President Bush has had about 3 months ( 2 pre-Jeffords switch, and 1 since Congress reconvened this year) of Republican control.

[unixfox]

Which proves that the difference between Republicans and Democrats has become little more than taxes.

No truer words have been spoken. Both parties are guilty of grabbing freedoms, taking away our liberties, and imposing more laws than any human can possibly keep up with.

Take away OUR money from them and we become free again. Until then, we will all be sheeple to the government.

[freeper12]

>>You obviously have missed all the speeches

Watch what he does, not what he says..talk is cheap.

[Dead Corpse]

Then why, with a Republican Congress, is the federal budget going UP to $2.1 trillion with Bush's next budget?

"By their works shall ye know them."

Bush can talk all he wants. It is what gets passed and signed into Law that worries me. As it should worry you too.

[Dead Corpse]

You will never get that one past Congress. We would need our "Liberty Teeth" back first.

They won't allow that.

[Fred Mertz]

During last year alone, federal spending skyrocketed 14 percent. During the past five years, it jumped a whopping 45 percent!

This should be a wake up call for many.

[freeper12]

The 2000 Republican platform stated:

"Reducing that (national) debt is both a sound policy goal and a moral imperative. Our families and most states are required to balance their budgets; it is reasonable to assume the federal government should do the same. Therefore we reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget."

Guess it was just campaign talk...nobody really meant it.

[Eagle Eye]

Name, for instance any 'rights' that have been taken away by this administration

How about provisions of the Fourth under the Patriot Act? How about Free Speech under Campaing Finance Reform? How about US citizens not needing to worry about being subjected to military tribunal? That lasted almost 4 weeks, didn't it?

And, just to remind you, Ruby Ridge happened under GHW Bush.

W has proposed huge increases in the government via medicare drug givaways. Socialism. Leftist. And Baldwin opposes this. Do YOU support it?

So, who really is more left?

[freeper12]

http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=350

At the federal level, CAGW - which was co-founded by the same J. Peter Grace who chaired Reagan's 1982 commission - has compiled a database of 32,443 projects costing taxpayers $140 billion. They range from building a canoe in Hawaii to a parking garage in Maine. The 2002 CAGW "Congressional Pig Book Summary" lists a record $20.1 billion in pork and 8,341 projects funded with dollars taken from federal taxpayers. CAGW also identifies $159 billion in potential one-year savings and $1.2 trillion that could be saved over five years if the federal government would get serious about eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, and determine not to repeat its mistakes. Increasingly, state organizations are being formed to do at the state level what CAGW and other organizations, like the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, are attempting to do at the federal level. The Bush administration should encourage them all. "

Guess Bush could not veto any of this pork either...apparentely you need a republican senate and a republican house in order to veto things...and about that canoe in Hawaii...you guessed it, national security.

[AUgrad]

Just because we like Bush, and believe he has decent morals, we are not given the powers to *him*. They powers are being given to the government and the government is not going to give them back easily.

Bears repeating.

[freeper12]

And if you haven't read this, you should, and you should be very afraid.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/830315/posts

I am not defending what this guy did, he sounds a bit nutty, but we all should be *very* concerned that he was prosecuted as a "terrorist" under new anti-terror laws for "interfering with the work of public officials".

Basically he filed bogus liens/lawsuits against some low-level govt officials in retaliation for foreclosing on his property...like I said, a bit nutty, but a *terrorist"??

Except many more people to be prosecuted as "terrorists" in the future.

[AUgrad]

The real danger lies in how they define terrorism. Protest a government action that you disagree with and you are obviously a terorist; You interfered with a government official. The checks on the power of govt. are being swiftly eroded in the name of "National Security". I sure hope I don't anger the wrong government official. They have been granted the power to ruin lives and steal liberty with impunity.

[ARCADIA]

The published agenda for the State of the Union sounds remarkably bland. China is overtaking us on the economic front, employment stinks, the airlines are in bad shape, we are seconds away from starting a third world war (ok fourth if you count the cold war), and our entire banking sector can disappear along with the real estate bubble; so, what is our President Planning to address? Faith based initiatives and small business health care?

Where are our priorities?

This the best use we can do with one of our best agenda setting opportunities of the year? What a waste.

[Uncle Bill]

JOBS OUTLOOK WORSENING

• PHOTO-OP COVER-UP: BOXES READ 'MADE IN CHINA' NOT 'MADE IN USA'
  
• U.S. Drops Report On Mass Layoffs
  
• Shooting the messenger: Report on layoffs killed
  
• Senate seeks to revive canceled U.S. layoffs report

There's nothing wrong with this economy, and I'll donate a dollar to prove it

"This economy is strong"
George W. Bush - December 28, 2002 - SOURCE

Washington's $782 Billion Spending Spree
"With the 2003 federal budget almost done, there’s now a price tag for this 2000-2003 spending spree: $782 billion in new spending. Not $782 billion in total spending, mind you, but $782 billion above what Washington spent in the previous four years. Eventually, taxes will need to be raised by more than $5,000 per household to pay for it. With the exception of World War II, on a per-household basis, 2000-2003 will become the largest four-year federal spending spree in American history."

"This farm bill will cost the average American taxpaying family $4,300 in higher taxes."

State by State Glance at Budget Woes

"Despite the fact that the Republicans control the White House, the House of Representatives, and 30 governorships, the nation is now in the midst of the biggest government spending spree since LBJ. Incredibly, the domestic social welfare budget has expanded more in just two years ($96 billion) under George W. Bush than in Bill Clinton's first six years in office ($51 billion)."

BUSH TO PUSH FOR AMNESTY

What Is Going On At The University of South Florida?
Bush's Terrorist Buddy

Laura and George W. Bush (3rd and 4th from left) with Islamic
Jihad frontman Sami Al-Arian (third from right) and family
(son, Abdullah "Big Dude" Al-Arian, is on far left).
Bush's Terrorist Buddy - Part 2

"Let us damn America. Let us damn their allies until death. Why do we stop?"
Professor Sami Al-Arian - Source

Will Homeland Security Turn Into Homeland Spying? - Phyllis Schlafly

Homeland Security or KGB - Joseph Farah

The Homeland Security Monstrosity - Rep. Ron Paul

RUSH LIMBAUGH: BUSH "NO CONSERVATIVE"

RUSH LIMBAUGH: "BUSH IS ADVANCING THE DEMOCRATS MOST LIBERAL AGENDA"

George W. Bush Is A Documented Liar

---

Socialism won the 2000 election

[Mortimer Snavely]

"Socialism won the 2000 election"

You're not supposed to have been able to figure that out.

[Uncle Bill]

Hehehe. Even David Broder is upset! LOL!

Despite campaign rhetoric, Bush is promoting big government

[panaxanax]

Correct you are. I feel that anyone who posts here and at other conservative sites have already been labelled as "people of interest" to be monitored by Big Brother Carnivore/Echelon systems.

The question is how many of us are willing to stand firm in our belief of our 4th ammendment rights? It's a little tough to resist the jackboots at your door when you have kids and a wife that would suffer greatly at the hands of the Barney Fife's with M-16's.

The so called Homeland Defense is a total joke. Anyone who buys into the lie that our medical records, veterinary records on our animals, emails, phone calls, purchases at food stores and credit card transactions is for our protection does not deserve to reside in this country.

........and the borders remain open.

[AUgrad]

Anyone who buys into the lie that our medical records, veterinary records on our animals, emails, phone calls, purchases at food stores and credit card transactions is for our protection does not deserve to reside in this country.

But it's for the chillrun don't you know.

[AUgrad]

Anyone who buys into the lie that our medical records, veterinary records on our animals, emails, phone calls, purchases at food stores and credit card transactions is for our protection does not deserve to reside in this country.

But it's for the chillrun don't you know.

[Uncle Bill]

"I feel that anyone who posts here and at other conservative sites have already been labelled as "people of interest" to be monitored by Big Brother Carnivore/Echelon systems."

Click me and Click me