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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Saturday 23 June 2012
Time and again conservatives characterize those of us on the left as “large government loyalists,” as “tax and spend liberals” who “support the growth of an inefficient and parasitic public sector.”
Three Big Lies about “Big Government”
Many conservatives who stylize themselves as defenders of small government lean precariously on Reagan-era platitudes when pressed to justify their affections. Though Reagan’s alluringly demagogic 1981 decree that “government is not the solution to our problems [but rather], government is the problem” is easy to chew, its arbitrary application has led to a number of misconceptions about the role, size, and scope of “government.”
Time and again conservatives characterize those of us on the left as “large government loyalists,” as “tax and spend liberals” who “support the growth of an inefficient and parasitic public sector.” Unfortunately, the tales that conservatives use to vituperate those of on the left are as shallow as they are tall.
Let’s take a few minutes to debunk three common conservative critiques lodged against supposed “big government” sympathizers.
Myth #1: President Obama has created a “spending inferno.”
Did not Harvard Business School teach you anything, Mitt? In FY 2009—the last of George W. Bush’s presidency — federal spending rose by 18 percent from $2.98 trillion to $3.52 trillion. Then, in FY 2010—the first budget overseen by President Obama—federal government outlays fell by nearly 2 percent. In FY 2011 spending rose 4.3 percent to $3.60 trillion and in FY 2012 spending is scheduled to rise 0.7 percent to $3.63 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) most recent budgetary estimates. Finally in FY 2013 — the final budget of President Obama’s term — spending is scheduled to fall 1.3 percent to $3.58 trillion. In total, federal spending under President Obama will have risen from $3.52 trillion to $3.58 trillion representing an annualized increase of just 0.4 percent. Federal spending is currently increasing at its slowest rate since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency nearly sixty years ago.
Myth #2: “Government” has become “too big” and “too inefficient” under President Obama.
The most common measure of government size is federal, state, and local expenditures relative to gross domestic product (GDP). According to this index total government expenditures as a percentage of GDP has varied modestly, + 7 percent, from President Bush’s last year and office to FY 2012 under President Obama.
Some of this increase, of course, is attributable to expanded federal payments for individuals by way of Social Security and Medicare. However, according to the Office of Management and Budget “defense and international spending” under President Obama has also increased by nearly 10 percent since President Bush left office, an argumentatively inconvenient truth for conservatives.
Concurrent to relatively stable spending-to-GDP ratios, it’s paradoxically possible to argue that the federal government is actually contracting. Here’s why. According to data recently released by the St. Louis FED around 16.5 percent of labor-eligible adults now work for the government, a figure down from its peak of 20 percent in 1975 under republican President Gerald Ford. Further, as a percentage of total employed Americans, federal government workers have been dropping steadily and are now near an all time low. According to the same data-set, state and local governments have employed roughly the same number of employees as a percentage of total U.S. employees for the past forty years or so.
Myth #3: Firing public sector workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers represents the best strategy for reducing debt incurred by “big government” spending.
The compensation of public school teachers, firefighters, and police officers is largely subsidized by the collection of state and local taxes. Although total U.S. debt stands at a towering $57 trillion, red ink at the state and local level accounts for less than 5 percent of total indebtedness. (State and local governments don’t wage endless wars.) National (federal) debt comprises 28 percent of total debt and the remaining 67 percent includes aggregated mortgage, student loan, and credit card debts.
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ABOUT Christopher Petrella
Christopher Petrella is a NationofChange contributing author and a doctoral candidate in African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He writes on the contradictions of modernity and teaches at San Quentin State Prison. His work has appeared in such publications as Monthly Review, Truthout, Axis of Logic, NationofChange, and The Real Cost of Prisons. Christopher also holds degrees from Bates College and Harvard University.
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By Tara Culp- Ressler
16 comments on "Three Big Lies about “Big Government”"
June 23, 2012 8:46pm
Cancervatism is not the solution to our problems [but rather], cancervatism is the problem. Cancervatives want to take us back to the good old days when peasant slaves heeded the beckons of their wealthy lord masters.
June 23, 2012 6:47pm
One of the tactics the power elites use is to tell you everything is fine, when it's not. To use baldfaced lies and past them off as truth. Both sides do this, as both sides are the same.
The author of this article is either a useful idiot, in that he actually believes what he's saying, or he's in on the con. Anyone that sticks-up for either of the assumed candidates, must be judged accordingly.
Most people, still think our system is as was intended, and are simply conned. They've been lead to believe that the politicians have our best interests at heart, that we still have a democracy, and that the people in charge know more than they do, and that's why they're in the positions of power they have. Even though all evidence points to just the opposite.
This happens, quite simply, through brainwashing.
It really doesn't take much to con people. The powers-that-be have known this for centuries, and through the use of modern technology, drugs, poisoning of our food and water, the use of fear, though false flag terror attacks, have created a nation of people that think they are free because they have 57-kinds of ice-cream to choose from, and 200-channels on their big-screen TV, and never question why we only have two candidates too choose from, and why the only change we ever see, no matter which clown is in office, is for the worse.
But that is changing. Things are now starting to get so bad, that even the thumb-suckers are starting to pay attention.
Obama will not save you. He can't even save himself. He probably doesn't even know who the real him is anymore.
And Romney is no better.
It's the system. And it's been overtaken from within by the very people this country was suppose the guard against taking power. And we either resist, with all our might, the tyranny that is masquerading as our government, or we will soon find ourselves in a very dark place, that we may never escape from.
June 24, 2012 12:59pm
You spout a lot of rhetoric, but you don't cite a single fact that can be traced down. Shut Up if you can't back it up.
June 23, 2012 1:28pm
lET US TALK REVENUE--14,000 INOME 3800 BUDGET AND BORROW Progressive Flat Tax by group
Pick up 1100 from exemptions. Start tax book anew and be rigid in keeping out bribes
GE over ten paid 2.3 rate on 81 billion profit.
Earn 10m pay 1% in payroll tax
earn 4300 in Casino Derivative Of Gambling pay 15% rate
we are getting shafted
June 23, 2012 12:34pm
Federal spending is currently increasing at its slowest rate since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency nearly sixty years ago. 16.5 percent of labor-eligible adults now work for the government, a figure down from its peak of 20 percent in 1975 under republican President Gerald Ford. Further, as a percentage of total employed Americans, federal government workers have been dropping steadily and are now near an all time low.
Mitt Romney, Conservatives, Republicans and Tea-Party members believe that firing public sector workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers represents the best strategy for reducing debt incurred by “big government” spending.
The compensation of public school teachers, firefighters, and police officers is largely subsidized by the collection of state and local taxes. Although total U.S. debt stands at a towering $57 trillion, red ink at the state and local level accounts for less than 5 percent of total indebtedness.
I have a very simple Question for Mitt Romney, [I like to Fire] Conservatives, Republicans and Tea-Party members. Does it really matter if you are laid-off [or fired] from the Private Sector or the Public Sector??? I believe that you are still unemployed. I believe that this Public Sector fire or lay-off causes the following to happen:
[1.0 ] The individual files for and gets Unemployment Benefits.
[2.0 ] If the individual is married with children they may very well have to file for Aid to Dependent Children, Medicare, Food Stamps, Welfare etc. Things which drive up the cost to the State and Federal Government Budgets.
[3.0 ] The individual no longer pays State or Federal Income Tax.
[4.0] The individual has less money to spend and reduces their spending budget. Which reduces demand for products, which may cause a lay-off in the Private Sector.
[5.0 ] The individual cannot meet their monthly payments on the bills they have. They are forced into Bankruptcy and loose their House, Car and just about everything they own. Now they join the homeless on the streets. This again raises the cost to the Federal Government who guaranteed their home Mortgage
Goverment is not inherrantly good or bad on its own. The Good or Bad of a Government is determined by the people in the Congress and how they spend the "PEOPLES' money. When times are good Economically the government should be reducing the size of Government and setting aside 10% of its Revenue for when the Economy turns bad and people need help. When Economic times are bad the Government should grow and help the unemployed with their needs.
June 23, 2012 12:28pm
The figures on the national debt are interesting. Too bad that 1.5 trillion of the 3.5 trillion federal budget is new debt added each year. This I believe represents about 100% of GDP, or much too much of the cash government takes in has to go to paying the interest on the debt; leaving it no choice but to keep borrowing and adding to those interest payments. Eventually those interest payments will reach a point of eating all government expenditure. Who might I ask is going to buy the bonds of a country with that kind of problem.(selling bonds is how the govt. makes up revenue it can't raise by taxing etc for programs it wishes to spend on like intelligence or wars etc) As it stands now bond yields ( the % of interest the U.S. pays on a bond)are being kept artificially low and therefore U.S. interest payments on it's debt low, all by the interest rate swap market and the Fed printing money. The JPMorgue bank problems which have brought it to supposed account before the Senate could have a lot to do with the begining of a meltdown in interest rate swaps. Who knows as their is so much crookedness and deceit in the financial industry to choke the entire population. But if the mechanisms for keeping U.S. bond interest rates low should fail several things would happen. The amount of interest the government and therefore the public would have to pay on the debt would skyrocket, leading quickly to a situation much akin to Greece's. Buyers of UST bonds might not buy thinking the investment too risky (if they don't already), a sell off of bonds would ensue in a mass rush for the exit. The Fed might start printing money to buy up these bonds devaluing the dollar, or what we would call hyper infaltion. A viscious spiral as the U.S. may then be approaching default on it's debt. Now we're talking the catastrophic collapse of the world's economies. But really the debt situation can't go on indefinately....this system of all money or credit created as debt owed to the bankers has run it's course, having used up all it's different types of reserves over the centuries, gold, then bonds and now derivatives. Time for a new system of conducting trade without bankers controlling the medium of exchange and profiting from that control....but what system?
June 23, 2012 8:14pm
The Sky is NOT Falling. Neither the US nor Europe is in any real danger.
The "only" thing we need to right the ship is JOBS for the approx 26 Million out of work ... only.
Remember in Nov 2010 after the Election, Weeper Boehner promised that his House would "focus like a laser beam on creating Jobs ... Good Jobs"??
Has this House created 1 Job?? 1 1/2 years!!
June 23, 2012 1:14pm
I guess Bush shouldn't have started two unnecessary wars while giving huge tax cuts to the wealthy.
June 23, 2012 8:33pm
Don't forget Bush's MediCare Part D Prescription Coverage, which he went for when WCare was doomed. It is Price-Fixed and Un-Funded. When the US Taxpayer is paying $1000 for a medicine that costs less than $35 to Canada, Mexico or the Veterans' Administration - yet comes from the same factory, you can guess how bad it is.
June 23, 2012 10:24am
If you really want to cut government spending, cut defense spending by 40% - that is still 10% more than what was in effect on 9-11. Since we are cutting wages for gov't. employees, it stands to reason that Congress and the Senate should have their pay reduced by at least 20%. Maybe they will understand what WE, the PEOPLE are dealing with. They should also be taxed on donations to their re-election campaigns that pertain to travel and meals. These guys are bitching that WE, the PEOPLE get too much, they need to take a hit, also. Come down out of your ivory towers!
June 23, 2012 10:20am
Having lived long enough to recall a lengthy series of political fights over the direction of the country, I have come to realize that either the American voter is not paying attention or is simply too stupid to grasp the extent to what they are being sold as a bill of goods. I choose to assume the first proposition. It makes sense as so many families are dependant upon 2 wage earners or, in the case of single parent households, 2 jobs. Furthermore, in recent years, employers have demanded ever more of their employees. Add in the time required for commuting, shofering of youngsters to and from school, after school functions and and other activities, there is little time for attention to civic affairs. News is caught on the fly with much of it reduced to sound bites. The advent of talk radio and other biased broadcasting has totally distorted the truth of what is actually going on. Although the internet provides us with the ability to check out the validity of what we are being told, there is no time or inclination to do so. Finally, there is the "social networking" factor. Here we have the ultimate dumbing down of our society. It is nice to stay in touch with friends and relatives but it has become so obsessive that the important events of our time become lost in gibberish. Polititions lie openly and when confronted simply ignore the challange and repeat the lies.. Before long those lies become accepted as true. Nobody knows or seems to care what is real and what is fake. The folks who have convinced us that fast food is OK and that their store has the cheapest prices have no trouble convincing us that their candidate is the best one for the job. Even if none of it is true.
Solution: Take a few minutes out of each day to learn the truth about what is going on. It's not easy but necessary. Get up 15 minutes earlier or go to bed 15 minutes later. Turn away from Facebook or Twitter for a little while and get some real, honest to goodness, news. Read a book about current events, there are many available by knowledegable, competent authors who will inform and enlighten you. Turn off talk radio and tune in to NPR. And lastly, think about what you hear. Does it make sense, or does it just sound like it does? If you don't do these things the monied interests win without even a fight. They care only about their own interests, not about yours. And being totally honest, it is really up to you, the younger generations. I'm well into my 70's so my time is limited but you folks have the time and energy. Just do it!
June 23, 2012 1:47pm
Unfortunately voting currently will make no change. All the candidates up for election have already been bought by one or another lobby all of which are detrimental to the ordinary voter.
The only solution I can think of, other than revolution which I definitely do not suggest, is for the ordinary voters to create PAC's and out lobby the current lobbies and buy a congress to get what they want!
June 23, 2012 12:08pm
Larronm, Wow did you nail it!!
June 23, 2012 9:54am
of interest bush 2010 included one time 700 mil tarp and the budget sign by bho in 2009 had 400 mil last minute ear marks added by house and super control senate
June 23, 2012 9:38am
Please watch this video on Utube to understand what the CONservatives are doing to the world: Osama bin Laden was CIA agent & Al-Qaeda Never Existed - Invented by CIA
June 23, 2012 7:15am
I.e., to put it more simply: John Mitchell's prediction 40 years ago that "we are going to push this country so far to the right you won't recognize it" has come true. "Conservatives" (wth that term means now) have, indeed, succeeded in so propagandizing and brainwashing the average Joe that what Americans now think is "centrist" is waaaaayy to the right of legitimate poltical definitions. History says this will eventually be corrected by violent mob-based means if better angels don't come to our rescue - but why does it have to be that way? Why can't socipathic, selfish "conservatives" simply do the right thing by their country and countrymen for a change? Dang. GOP = evil incarnate.