Many moons ago, when I was in school, the big discussion was whether the government should be spending on defense and infrastructure, or social programs such as health, education and welfare. Well, the butter people won that ‘guns or butter’ argument, and you can see where it got us. We now have mountains of debt and the social demands are growing exponentially. We don’t even maintain the roads and infrastructure we have, not alone expand. One of the best programs the government ever initiated – space exploration – is grinding to a halt.
It takes extra effort and curiosity to understand how supply economics works. It takes courage to say no to the demands of people, knowing you are helping them in the long term.
I compare government policy to the way mothers and fathers raise a child. The balance of protective cuddling from the mom - and ‘suck it up’ demands from the dad - produce a balanced kid. If the dad starts acting like the mom all the time, the kid may never be all she or he could be.
You would think we would look back over the past few decades to realize that public policy in this country is out of balance. We need to get back to lower taxes, less regulation and less social engineering. Restore liberty and personal responsibility. A rising tide lifts all boats.
