Goverment - How Big? How Bad?

My students always ask "Is government good or bad?"

Now they are also asking "How big should government be?"

After half a century of Reaganomics and criticism of big government my students are really confused about why in 2009 government seems to be the only hope and solution to a collapsing nation.

I explain it this way.

If you want to buy stuff and consume products - any and all products - then the private sector is generally the most effective provider.

If you want to drive on paved roads, over safe bridges, be protected on that drive from bandits and roadside terrorists, and, at the end of your drive, have an airport with air traffic controllers, safe airplanes that have been inspected and that are safe then you need government. Tax cuts to consumers will NOT build and service any of these common goods. Without revenue, neither local, state, nor the federal government can provide these services.

Would private companies or "donations" build and maintain our military? No.

The same is true of education. We need excellent public schools and state universities and community colleges have been crucial to the United States becoming a wealthy and successful nation. Most students think they are paying the full cost of education in their tuition. When I tell them about half or more is subsidized by government they are shocked.

I asked my students what parts of the 2009 Obama budget they liked. Of course, more education spending and student loans were immediately chosen.

Then I asked them how government can afford these - "Don't they need taxes to pay for all of this?" - they were stumped.

I then asked them if banks and mortgage companies should be regulated and their actions scrutinized by government. Even the Republican students in my class said (reluctantly) that it was a mistake to allow them to operate with so little oversight over the past decades.

One student brought up the lack of peanut butter inspection and said government (not private companies hired by the Peanut Company of America) should have been doing these inspections.

"You can't trust business Because they need to cut expenses and show a profit so the less regulation the more they like it."

Another brought up poisoned pet food, toothpaste, and lead painted toys from China and said the government should have had more vigorous inspections.

Another student said Iowa should have had serious and aggressive inspection of living quarters for workers such as the mentally retarded men (at a commercial turkey farm) who were housed for years in an unheated building, with locks on the outside doors, and got paid $95 a month.

In my American government classes this discussion, carefully conducted, can be one of the most rewarding and intelligent. My advice - bring it down to tangible and familiar examples.

1. There is a need to support and maintain a vigorous private sector and give people as much money back from their income as possible.

2. There is a critical need for governments at all levels to develop and maintain high quality services that make life good and make commerce possible so we need taxes and fees. These are not an option.