It’s primary season for the upcoming Presidential election in the US. As “limited government conservative” Presidential candidates for the Republican party explain their unique qualifications for President, consider these recent examples of our overreaching federal government:
- To “protect us from drugs,” the federal government frequently conducts drug raids. In a city-wide drug raid in Fitchburg, MA, the FBI took a chainsaw to Judy Sanchez’ door while she was in her apartment with her three-year-old daughter and pet dog. Sanchez was lucky, neither her dog nor anyone in her family was shot.[1] It wasn’t the first time government agents raided the wrong home in the drug war, and it won’t be the last. Many other innocent citizens have been killed by the feds while they “protect us” from drugs.
- To “keep us safe from terrorism,” we must now sacrifice our liberties and endure the indignity of body searches and porno-scans. When our protectors at La Guardia Airport in NY spotted two suspected pipe bombs in a passenger’s luggage, TSA agents seized the passenger’s property and simply left the suspected pipe bombs in a public area. For six hours hundreds of passengers passed by the confiscated suspected bombs and police were not notified.[2] It turned out to be much ado about nothing, as the suspected pipe bombs were merely gold and silver pipes for use as homeopathic medicine.
- In addition to sacrificing our liberties as the feds “keep us safe from terrorism,” it also seems we must sacrifice our property as well. Almost every day there’s a story of another TSA agent being prosecuted for stealing from travelers they’re “protecting.”[3]
- To “protect us from guns,” the federal government let guns be sold to people who were buying for Mexican drug cartels. Code-named Fast and Furious, the federal government program strong-armed Arizona gun dealers into violating gun laws and now both political parties dispute who was running the program.[4]
- To “keep making homes affordable,” government-sponsored enterprises: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, after a taxpayer-funded bailout in 2008, are now owned by taxpayers. Freddie Mac sets the rules for refinancing home loans and made rules making it difficult for homeowners to refinance their mortgages to get lower interest loans and stay in their homes. Freddie Mac recently invested in mortgage-backed securities that are profitable when homeowners are trapped in high interest loans.[5] Meanwhile, sister organization Fannie Mae has been under investigation for nearly a decade for fraudulent foreclosures. According to whistleblower Nye Lavalle:
- To “serve the American people,” the federal government employs about two million people, not including those in the military or the Postal Service. For those of you out of work or having a tough time making ends meet, your federal employees feel your pain—the House just approved an extension of a two year pay freeze for federal employees.[7] Unlike you, the majority of federal employees still get pay increases during a “pay freeze” and get compensated on average, 16% more than private sector employees.[8]
“Fannie Mae, its directors, servicers and lawyers appeared to have an institutional policy of turning a willful blind eye to evidence of mortgage origination and servicing fraud. When confronted directly with this evidence, Fannie not only failed to correct and remedy the abuses, it assisted in continuing the frauds via institutional practices that concealed fraudulent foreclosures.”[6]
The Tea Party has become a political force by making noises about limited government since Obama was elected President. But of the R-candidates for President who supposedly embrace the limited government philosophy, only Ron Paul believes in limiting the limited federal government. Mitt-Romneycare-Romney doesn’t. Newt-Moonbase-Gingrich doesn’t. Rick-Votes-for-National-debt-increases-5-times-as-Senator-Santorum doesn’t.
Only Ron Paul:
- Wants to stop the War on Drugs (video) and has consistently advocated ending it (video). Ron Paul wants to end the war on drugs and he understands the 2nd Amendment.
- Wants to abolish the TSA.
- Wants to end government-sponsored enterprises (video).
- Wants to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget as soon as he takes office.
If you are a voter and truly want a limited federal government, what lies do you tell yourself when you support your “limited government” candidate instead of Ron Paul for President?
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[1] “FBI Uses Chainsaw In Raid On Wrong Fitchburg Apartment,” By Jim Armstrong, WBZ-TV, Jan 31, 2012, (Accessed at http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/01/31/fbi-uses-chainsaw-in-raid-on-wrong-fitchburg-apartment/ on Feb 2, 2012).
[2] “'Bomb’ botch at LaGuardia,” By PHILIP MESSING and TIM PERONE, Jan 31, 2012, NY Post, (Accessed at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/bomb_botch_at_lag_cNNAisTre0rBixGKlehknI on Feb 2, 2012).
[3] “NYC agent arrested in latest TSA theft allegation,” AP, February 02, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/02/police-tsa-agent-at-jfk-stole-5k-from-passenger/ on Feb 4, 2012).
[4] “Report by House Democrats Absolves Administration in Gun Trafficking Case,” By CHARLIE SAVAGE, Jan 31, 2012, NY Times, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/us/politics/operation-fast-and-furious-report-by-democrats-clears-obama-administration.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha24 on Feb 2, 2012).
[5] “Report Prompts Calls To End Freddie Mac's Conflict Of Interest,” by Chris Arnold and Marilyn Geewax, Jan 30, 2012, NPR, (Accessed at http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/31/146110055/report-prompts-calls-to-end-freddie-macs-conflict-of-interest on Feb 4, 2012).
[6] “A Mortgage Tornado Warning, Unheeded,” By GRETCHEN MORGENSON, NY Times, Feb 4, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/business/mortgage-tornado-warning-unheeded.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha25&pagewanted=all on Feb 5, 2012).
[7] “House approves measure to freeze federal salaries,” By Ed O'Keefe, Feb 1, 2012, Washington Post, (Accessed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/federal-pay-freeze-bill-comes-up-for-a-vote/2012/02/01/gIQAJwg9iQ_story.html?wpisrc=nl_fedinsider on Feb 4, 2012).
[8] “Comparing the Compensation of Federal and Private-Sector Employees,” Congressional Budget Office, Jan 2012, (Accessed at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/126xx/doc12696/01-30-FedPay.pdf on Feb 4, 2012).
From page 23 of the report:
“For workers at all education levels, the cost of total compensation averaged about $52 per hour worked for federal employees, compared with about $45 per hour
worked for employees in the private sector with certain
similar observable characteristics. Thus, total compensation was about 16 percent higher, on average, for federal workers than for similar private-sector workers, indicating that the government spent about 16 percent more on total compensation than it would have if average
compensation had been comparable with that in the
private sector, after accounting for differences in those
characteristics.”
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1 comment:
Having recently come across the 1959 Nobel lecture of Salvatore Quasimodo, who won that year's prize for literature, I saw a number of connections between his acceptance speech ("The Poet and the Politician") and your blog.
Among his assertions, Quasimodo notes that the politician's "...only purpose, as always, is to deprive man of three or four fundamental liberties, so that in his eternal cycle man continually retrieves what has been taken from him."
The excesses of our Federal Government are nothing new. What may be new, however, is the apparent acceptance with which its overreach appears to be met.
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