Our government needs to be reined in, restored to its original intent

April 18, 2023

In November of 1863, a few months after the Union defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech now known as the Gettysburg Address. “Four score and seven years ago,” he began, referring to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was an historic speech, despite its mere 271-word length.

But at the end of the speech he referred to the U.S. government as “that government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Looking at what our once limited government has grown into, it seems more like the government is by some people and for some people. So much of what happens today is less “for the people,” meaning the U.S. citizenry as a whole, than for some people, and for the government people.

The federal government is too big, too expensive, and too powerful. 

In September of 2021, federal civilian employees numbered about 2.85 million. The U.S. population in 2021 was approximately 333 million. This means that there was one federal civilian employee for every 118 persons.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, “the federal budget for fiscal 2022 was $6.3 trillion. The federal deficit in 2022 was $1.4 trillion, equal to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product, almost 2 percentage points greater than the average over the past 50 years.”

USA Facts provides this information:

* The federal government collected $5.0 trillion in revenue in fiscal year 2022 (FY 2022) — or $15,098 per person. 

* The federal government spent $6.5 trillion in FY 2022 — or $19,434 per person — including funds distributed to states. 

* Federal revenue increased 14.3% in FY 2022 after collecting more personal income taxes, social security taxes, and auctioning spectrum for commercial wireless and broadcast use. 

* Federal spending decreased 12.4% in FY 2022 after remaining relatively flat in FY 2021. 

* The federal government spent 28.7% more than it collected in FY 2022, resulting in a $1.45 trillion deficit. 

* The national debt hit $30.9 trillion last fiscal year. That is $931,000 per person.

“In today’s world, it’s rare for the federal government to balance its budget, meaning revenue is higher than expenditures,” Politifact reported. “Since the 1960s, only five years have had balanced federal budgets: 1969 under President Richard Nixon; 1998, 1999 and 2000 under Bill Clinton; and 2001 under George W. Bush.” 

A balanced budget does not mean that there was no national debt. Andrew Jackson, who served from 1829-37, “is the only president to preside over a total elimination of all remaining debt while having a balanced budget,” according to Politifact.

A 2022 Gallop poll found that 54% of Americans feel our government holds too much power. That figure is comprised of 74% of Republicans, 32% of Democrats and 54% of independents.

The feds rule through laws, rules and regulations. Quora.com tells us that there “are thousands of federal laws in the United States. The exact number can vary depending on how one defines a ‘law,’ as there are also regulations and executive orders that have the force of law. Additionally, new laws are constantly being proposed and passed by Congress.”

In 2017, Forbes.com said, “Let's look at year-end 2016 for starters. Federal departments, agencies, and commissions issued 3,853 rules in 2016, while Congress passed and the president signed 214 bills into law — a ratio of 18 rules for every law. The average has been 27 rules for every law over the past decade.”

“How did it get this way,” the Convention of States online (COS) asks, “Slowly but surely, we allowed D.C. bureaucrats to take over our way of living and push connived agendas in our faces.”

“Since the COVID crisis ensued in early 2020, every day has only allowed for the people to recognize how power abuses in the government are not just possible but extremely common.”

This needs to be fixed. But how? Well, one way is by electing people to the White House and Congress who will restore the republic’s intended limited government status. That, however, is a slow, and very iffy process.

Another possibility is a “Convention of States to rein in the powers of the federal government,” COS states. The states have the ability to call a convention to meet and discuss limiting its size and jurisdiction, adding term limits to federal officials, and writing a permanent budget plan.

“The good news is that already, 19 out of the required 34-state threshold has officially passed the COS Resolution.” Seven other states have passed the Resolution in one house of their government, and 12 others are going to consider the Resolution. “The people are looking for a real solution, not just another temporary fix,” COS added.

This would be a quicker solution than through elections, but it might not produce the desired result.

Clearly, the United States government’s size, cost, and power is a serious problem. And the wandering away from the ideal of government “for the people” — meaning all of the people, not just some of them — that has occurred over recent decades needs to be reversed.