The idea that the founding fathers believed in small government is just false. A lie. This idea is widely expressed by conservatives, Fox News, and right wing radio. It is parroted by the MSM. The Tea Party and many americans believe it is true. It is not.
If Grover Norquist was around when America was young we would be the 13 States of America. When Thomas Jefferson was president he presided over, probably the largest expansion of the U.S. government. While Napoleon was conducting his wars of aggression and needed cash, America thought that the Louisiana Purchase was a great real estate deal. It cost 15 million dollars, was 828,000 square miles of land and we paid 3 cents an acre for it. The land encompassed all or part of 15 states. When the government wanted to link American from coast to coast they gave large swaths of land to the railroads and paid them to build the Transcontinental Railroad. We wanted to encourage people to move west so we enacted the Homestead Act. Parts of the United States flooded each spring so we created the Army Corps of Engineers and the TVA. Some fool, William H. Seward, thought it would be a wise investment to purchase Alaska from the Russians for 2 cents an acre. President Eisenhower, after trying to drive across the United States believe it was in the national security interests of the United States to build the Interstate State Highways system. Since Republicans hate social programs I will not mention all the ways American has made peoples lives better through government's intrusive programs such as the Social Security, Medicare, the FDA, FAA, FEMA, NASA to name a few. America did all of this because it was good for America and it paid off big time. None of these things would have happened if we shrank government to the size that we could drown it in a bathtub. There are things that only the government can do. The next big projects we should be investing in are; education, high speed rail, solar, and wind technologies. There shouldn't be a building owned by the Federal government that does not have a solar panel and or wind mill on it, even outhouses if we own any. These ideas are good for America and the planet.
When the right tries to tell us that we don't need government ask them which of these monumental programs that made America and Americans who we are should we not have attempted. Forget the social programs, they will never listen. Ask Rush if he would like to live in his big mansion without electricity.The government thought all of America should have electricity. Without government he would be sitting in a very hot house with no lights and his radio station would not be able to transmit his vile swill. America must keep pushing the envelope and improve the lives of its citizens because that is who we are and that is our history. That is what the founding fathers would want.
This is my first diary, I woke up with this stuff buzzing in my head and had to get it out. Thanks for listening. I am an artist and except for graphics programs I am computer illiterate. If I made any mistakes tell me how to fix them and I will give it a shot. I'm not promising I will be able to fix but I will try.