LEANING RIGHT-I am almost certain that I have seen Groundhog Day more times than John Kerry has been to the Middle East. However, unlike the hapless Secretary of State, Bill Murray’s performance is priceless and inspirational each and every time I watch it. Sadly, the possibility that our leaders in Washington might learn the lesson in self-improvement he did, and find a way to escape the annual cycle of frivolous and juvenile bickering over the budget is as remote as ever.
Of the countless federal laws that exist in our overregulated society, one of the silliest is undoubtedly the one that requires the President to present a budget to Congress. (The subsequent part, where Congress responds by laughing loudly and politely asking him to take a long walk off a short peer, is actually not a law, just a time-honored custom.)
Obama, of course, always has some high-minded ideas for improving the lot of “middle class folks” through poorly disguised redistribution schemes. To fund them, he offers what he thinks are clever new sources of revenue – tax increases on people who work for a living. He claims the middle class will escapeunscathed, even if he knows this to be patently false. And whether or not there is any merit in his proposals, Republicans respond in one of two ways. Either they offer up some tired clichés hiding their distaste for anything that he says, or they openly and unabashedly ridicule the President, perhaps even throwing in some off-the-record name calling.
Sooner or later, the showdown ends in stalemate. This is followed by the threat of a government shutdown, and incessant claptrap about the Sequester. Impending doom is then narrowly averted with an eleventh hour compromise, and life keeps going. That is, of course, until we wake up shortly thereafter to I’ve got You Babe and the whole charade begins anew.
Observers on both sides of the aisle recognize that the process is ridiculous, but claim this is simply the way the game is played. Is this true? Have we reached a point in American History where politics in Washington have become so partisan that our system has become permanently dysfunctional?
The short answer is unquestionably yes.
Our government has grown so large and so self-important, that it sees itself as the center of the universe. Once upon a time, actually not all that long ago, the government’s role was to provide a safe, livable country for its citizenry, not to involve itself in every aspect of daily life. Unfortunately, the current president does not seem to understand this, nor do many in the Republican opposition.
Again and again, Obama has used his spectacular powers of persuasion, arguing that he should be the head of a new kind of expanded government, a utopian paradise where an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful Washington can magically solve the nation’s ills. And no matter what the government fiasco du jour is, he will never recognize that big government is the nation’s greatest ill.
Unfortunately, if history is any indicator, spinelessness among the Republican ranks will doom their chances of successfully putting the reins on runaway government expansion. The nanny state will keep getting bigger, more entrenched, more corrupt, more inept, and more indestructible. It will create more dependents, less self -sufficiency, and move us further from the America that our founders envisioned. The time loop is sure to continue.
Will a leader ever come along who can cogently articulate the value of small government? Is there a Ronald Reagan for the twenty-first century waiting in the wings to lift us of out of our current mess and bring us the fundamental, systemic change we so desperately need? Let’s hope so. Contrary to what Obama may think, the United States is still the greatest nation on Earth. If it can be done, we can do it. Hang in there, America. There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb.
(David E. Levine was educated at Columbia University, graduating in 1993 with a BA in History. He grew up in Los Angeles. He can be reached here or on Twitter.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 11
Pub: Feb 6, 2015
