How strong should the national government be?

There are varying viewpoints about how strong the national government should be. Just about everybody agrees the government needs to have enough power to run our country, to defend our country, and to keep order in our country. Before the Constitution was written, these were real issues with our government under the plan created by the Articles of Confederation.

The real debate starts with how much more should the government be able to do. For those who have a distrust of business owners, they would want the government to have a lot of power to control our economy and our businesses. They would say that businesses would do what is best for them. This may not be what is best for the workers, the environment, or the community. These people feel that without government programs to help the needy, the needy will suffer and be mostly ignored. These people believe that without many rules and regulations, the rich will get richer while the poor will get poorer. They also believe the government should work to prevent political corruption.

Those who distrust the government say it has too much power. These people believe that the government interferes too much in our lives and reduces our freedoms. They believe that too many government rules and regulations hinder economic growth and business investment. They believe too many government bureaucrats don’t use common sense and impose too many restrictions on our people. These people want to limit the government’s power to doing only what the government absolutely has to do in order to run our country. They will support the government having a military, protecting our freedoms, and creating economic opportunities. They want the government to encourage people to invest and to help our economy grow. This usually means supporting a lower tax rate. They won’t support a lot of government social programs.

The debate about the role of government is a fierce one today. It is a key issue dividing the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Now that I have shared the thoughts of both sides of the issue, where do you stand on this topic?