The partial government shutdown’s impact and the teachable moment – Part 2
Bottom Line: Continuing with today’s story based on the Q&A entry from Ignacio...Here’s some perspective on how bloated our federal government has become.
Through 1865 we had five federal government agencies and no federal income tax. They were...
- Department of War
- Department of State
- Department of Navy
- Department of Treasury
- Office of the Attorney General
That’s right. For the first 76 years of our history we only had those five departments. Since 1865 we’ve added 425 federal government agencies with the proliferation of them starting after the federal income tax was adopted in 1913 and exploding during the New Deal in the 1930’s. In so doing we’ve implemented massive federal income taxes and managed to accumulate over $21.5 trillion in debt in the process. It’s a model that’s bloated and unsustainable if we want to maintain our freedom over the long run. With every piece of expansion of our federal government, a bit more of our liberty is chipped away...but rather than viewing it that way and realizing that there’s a tangible cost we all pay for it out of the money we earn – which is another way bloated federal government eats away at our liberty – Americans are conditioned to feel as though the agencies and the people that work in them are victims that desperately need the resumption of status quo government as quickly as possible.
Do you think we need 430 federal government agencies? How many can you even name? How much of an impact would retaining some of the $15,200 your household and every household pays for in just federal government salaries alone – make to you and your family?
Real leadership is doing what’s difficult but is in the best interest of our country. The truth is that were I in a position to do so, I’d dramatically reduce the size of our federal government by eliminating hundreds of federal government agencies, resulting in hundreds of thousands of federal employees having to find other careers. I don’t apologize, run or hide from my core beliefs. You might not agree with me, but I couldn’t be further from being a hypocrite on this issue. Those who suggest they support freedom and liberty yet argue for the resumption of status quo federal government are the hypocrites.
To continue with the third entry as part of this six part series click the link below: