Big Government is Back

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Big Government is Back
by James Hall, Senior Associate Editor

June 25, 2003

"Leaning Left"

James Hall "The era of Big Government is over." - Bill Clinton, State of the Union, 2000

"I want a prescription drug benefit on my desk by July 4th." - George W. Bush, 2003

The events of the past couple of weeks have been a liberal's dream. Who could have imagined that within this span, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay would approve of a bill giving $400 tax rebates to the children of the poor, and President George W. Bush would demand that Congress send him a brand new $400 billion prescription drug entitlement for Medicare? Surely things are topsy-turvy, aren't they?

Under a Republican-controlled Congress and executive branch, we liberals readied themselves for the worst-the reduction of the nation's social safety net, open season on the working poor and middle classes, and open house for corporations. Instead, since 9/11 we've seen the expansion of the federal government and building of an improved social safety net. If there are major setbacks for liberals since Bush took office, I haven't seen them.

Al Gore couldn't have done any better.

This is triangulation, Clinton-style, and I love it. George W. Bush may be acting to ensure his election in 2004, but liberals could hardly expect to have made these gains even with a liberal president. To put things in perspective, the $400 billion prescription plan Bush wants is the biggest new entitlement program since LBJ's Great Society programs in the 1960s.

What this tells us is that despite their rhetoric, conservatives in Washington know on which side their bread is buttered. Americans want bigger government than reigns in corporations, protects the nation from terror, and guarantees health care for the disadvantaged who have political clout, and they will get it under Republicans or Democrats, or else.

The pendulum's swung completely since 1994, when activist Republicans pushed Bill Clinton to take measures to reduce the size of government. Under Clinton's Reinventing Government plan, the federal government cut its payroll, and Clinton announced the federal government's reduced role in his famous State of the Union address.

Since 9/11, though, things have changed. A new federal agency, the Homeland Security Agency, has been created, defense and domestic spending has increased, and there are more government employees than ever.

A few problems remain, of course. The Bush strategy of being everything to everyone has created in record budget deficits, and the new prescription drug entitlement will only add to that. (Amazing how many conservatives who approved of budget-busting tax cuts now point out the fiscal irresponsibility of adding an unfunded entitlement. Of course they've blown their credibility on this issue.) Eventually we're going to have to take action to reduce that deficit.

But doing something to meet the horrendous cost of rising prescriptions is long overdue. The real question is why wait until 2006 to begin this program? Seniors need help with the costs of drugs today, not three years from now. And if liberals can get these kinds of solutions from a Republican Congress and President, why worry about the 2004 election? Instead, let's keep pushing for more: under Bush, Big Government's back! ***

James Hall
Orlando, FL USA

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files