... personally, i'd like to go back to limited executive power, and the three branches of government doing their job with checks and balances. no de facto legislation through the judicial branch or through executive orders and actions. no blocking legislation with procedural games. no obstructing confirmations or votes on legislation. a legislative branch responsive to their constituents, not the executive or lobbyists.
then we can talk about size. but let's start back with some semblance of the government the founding fathers charged us with.
Limited government, for the time being. I don't think we're ready for no government yet. We have to make sure that there are enough safety nets in place, enough organizations to help those who cannot support themselves and have no family to help them. And people have to change. That is going to take a long time, if it ever happens. There are still too many people who do whatever they can get away with, instead of trying to do what is best for themselves and others around them.
When Ronald Reagan used the phrase "take big government off the backs the people" he meant the super rich and corporations want to be able to exploit workers and poison the environment with no regulations or oversight, and they don't want to pay taxes.
Government is the only defense we the people have against the limitless greed and callousness of the billionaire class.
I want a government that will provide useful services to the people, maintain the nation's infrastructure and national defense, protect those who can't protect themselves and will not permit the wealthy and powerful to poison and devastate the world's oceans, air and land.
@Psycho I don't think we define "big government" the same way.
Government must respect the Bill of Rights and the civil liberties and civil rights of the people. Government should not interfere in the private behavior of consenting adults. Government must be secular and not promote religion. That, to me, is "small" government.
Providing necessary and useful services (healthcare, schools, infrastructure, national defense, environmental protection, etc.) and protecting the common people from the wealthy and powerful is exactly what government should be doing.
