Expanding Government Begets Incompetence and Corruption

Democracy and Power 102: Voters are Rationally Ignorant

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. —H.L. Mencken

Expanding Government Begets Incompetence and Corruption

Dissatisfied with government, Americans voted for Obama’s “hope and change.” After six years, the Obama Administration has delivered bigger and increasingly, incompetent government – ObamaCare, the rollout, IRS, Libya, Benghasi, ISIS, Ebola, Veterans Administration, Solyndra to name a few. The problem, however, is much greater than Obama, his policies and his administration. Governments invariably expand and become incompetent, bureaucratic and prone to corruption, which is what we have witnessed in America. The following is a quick overview of the process and the problem:

  • Bigger: Thomas Jefferson observed that government always expands. “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yeild (sic), and government to gain ground." Two isolated examples of incompetent governances and expansion of government: Bush II promoted nation building in Iraq, and Obama created the Affordable Care Act. Both programs have failed and greatly expanded the cost of government.

  • Incompetent: In America, 535 Senators and Members of Congress – Democrats and Republican – are incapable of being knowledgeable stewards of the vast array of programs – health industry, banking, monetary policy, entrepreneurial technologies, international relationships, military expertise, welfare, education and a whole lot more. Worse, these 535 politicians are always adding and subtracting Members with differing mixes of philosophy and interests. Thus, Congress, as an institution, has little historical and institutional knowledge of the programs enacted by the previous Congresses. Doubly worse, the politicians must rely on bureaucrats for information and implementation.

  • Bureaucrats: Permanent government workers administer the laws and supply the vast majority of information which the politicians use to legislate. Hence, bureaucrats control the information and enact the laws. That’s powerful and dangerous. Remember when Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) asked Secretary Sebelius of the Health and Human Services about the implementation of ObamaCare? Baucus sensed an approaching train wreck, but Sebelius assured him everything was okay with totally wrong information and incompetent performance ensued.

  • Corruption: To be an elected-politician – Democrats and Republicans – need lots of cash for their campaigns. Big business, big unions and thousands of special-interest predators supply millions of dollars to politicians. In return, every donor group demands special legislation to enhance their interests. For example, ethanol impacts every America and most of the world. The use of ethanol is a "gift" to big agri-business and Mid-West farmers. While ethanol does little, if anything, for environmental enhancement, it is used for fuel and raises the price of corn throughout the world. Do the American politicians care? Not really. The mandate to include ethanol assures campaign donations and constituent’s votes, which, in turn, assures big profits for agro-businesses and farmers at the expense of the poor throughout the world. This is a corrupt waste of resources and totally immoral.

America Awakes:

For many years Americans have had a sense that government was failing, but very few citizens have the time or knowledge to investigate the sources of its decline. Our public has been rationally ignorant. As H.L. Mencken wrote many years ago, “Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” Six years ago, Americans hoped Obama would bring good governance. Sadly, it has been just the opposite. Obama with the sycophantic aid of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi has greatly expanded our government.

As last night’s election results indicate, more and more Americans know our country is in decline and want to make a positive change. It is important for Americans to understand the structural problems within our country. The problems with our governance are more than Obama and the Democrats. Republican politicians have greatly contributed to our malaise as well. It is important for We the People to realize America’s greatest issue is the continual expansion of our centralized government, which becomes bureaucratic, incompetent and prone to corruption. For personal freedom and our economy to thrive, big, expansive government must be reversed.