From Thom Hartmann:
They’re lying to us again. The American government isn’t too big or too bloated: it’s too small. And the result of it being too small is a steady erosion of Americans’ freedom over the past forty-four years.
As Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his March, 1933 inaugural address:
“A necessitous man is not a free man.”
— If you or your children are sick but afraid to go to the hospital because you know the bills will leave you broke and homeless, you’re not free.
— If you need to go to college or trade school to get a better life but can’t afford it, you’re not free.
— If you’re hungry and can’t buy food for your family, you’re not free.
— If you can’t afford housing and have to live in a tent on the street or constantly one step ahead of eviction, you’re not free.
— If you’re afraid every day that your child may not come home from school because Republicans have saturated the nation with deadly weapons, you’re not free.
— If you’re old and broken but still having to work because you can’t live on Social Security, you’re not free.
— If your bank and insurance company are ripping you off and you have no recourse, you’re not free.
— If your voice and vote are drowned out because billionaires, AIPAC, and giant corporations are pouring cash into elections, you’re not free.
— If your boss refuses to let you and your fellow workers unionize and punishes you for demanding better wages, working conditions, and benefits you’re not free.
These are all things, including safety from gun violence, that are traditionally provided by “big government.” And the governments of most every other advanced democracy in the world do provide these things to their people.
But not America, because our government is too small.
And it’s been shrinking steadily ever since the Reagan Revolution took an axe to federal programs to pay for his tax cuts for billionaires. The year the Gipper was inaugurated, federal workers made up 2.6% of the total US workforce; today’s they’re 0.87% of all American workers.
Too small.
See more: https://hartmannreport.com/p/small-government-big-chains-the-lie-6cf?isFreemail=true&post_id=157500675&publication_id=302288&r=3x1uaj&triedRedirect=true