REDUCING GOVERNTMENT

By Ronald T "Ron" Drioane

Government No Longer Serves - It Controls and is Growing Out of Control

The growth of American government over the decades has been geometric. The foundation of our country was based on the idea that, left to themselves, people would function to their personal betterment and, thus, the betterment of society. Unfortunately, the growth of government intrusion has created an emerging nightmare that tries to control nearly every human activity and demands over 50% of citizens' earnings in the process. The feudal serfs only had to pay 33% and were considered slaves. It is time to restrain government from further growth and begin diminish its influence over our lives by diminishing its size.

Too many elected officials become conduits for money coerced from hard working people to pad the pockets of those who will aid them in maintaining power. The result is a welfare state that not only institutionalizes and dehumanizes the poor whom it pretends to help, but functions to force working Californians to subsidize private businesses through corporate welfare.

In addition, those who try to legislate every human activity and thought have created a morass of laws, regulations, and government agencies bent on activities that belong in the home or church. In America our government was designed to be subject to the people and to law. Over the years "we the people" have become subjects rather than rulers.

It is time to shrink government and allow the people of California to enjoy self-reliance and self-determination. The founding fathers of our great nation believed that people were compentent to run their own lives without government "help" or interference. It is beyond time to return to trusting ourselves to do what's best. It is time to end the "nanny state" that says it wants to help, but in reality controls and eventually enslaves.

The framers of our constitution believed that government must be mightily restrained. They knew from bad experience that centralized power bred tyranny and oppression. One of the main authors of the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, James Madison, summed up their goals this way, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government." I believe that sums up my philosophy in an eloquesnt nutshell.