Slaying the American dragon of ‘big government’
To capture the Rhinegold, the fabulous treasure of the
Nibelungs, the hero Sigurd had to slay the dragon Fafnir.
Although he possessed the strength and re-forged the sword of
his father, Sigurd dared not face Fafnir head-on in single combat.
For Fafnir was very powerful, having, with his own brother and
father, captured and ransomed Odin himself in times past.
Instead, Sigurd dug for himself trenches along the path which
Fafnir took to find water. These trenches were to be filled by the
venom of a wounded Fafnir, so that it would not drown the young
hero. Sigurd hid in one of the trenches, and when Fafnir passed
over, the warrior thrust his sword into the wyrm’s left side. By
guile as well as strength, Sigurd defeated the monster.
Today another monster lays defeated: the felled beast which is
the Democratic party, that party of big government, of high taxes,
and of intrusive regulations  that monster is mortally
wounded.
Baited into running against the principles in the Contract for
America, principles of smaller, more responsible government, the
Democrats suffered a telling blow last November. As Republicans now
climb out from the venom-filled trenches, they find the Nibelungs’
treasures unguarded. What ought they to do, the treasure now being
theirs? That is to say, now that they control the government, what
should they do with it?
As Cosmo Wenman so well demonstrated in his article last Friday
(Frey’s Day, for those who wish to keep up the Norse/Teutonic
theme) the federal government, with its alphabet soup of
bureaucracies, has been a powerful tool for destroying the freedom
of the American people.
Very much like the Nibelungs’ gold, it is an accursed prize.
None may find joy in possessing it. There is really no reason to
suspect that the federal government will act in the interest of
liberty and prosperity simply because it is under new management.
Fundamental changes are in order, and much of what is now the
federal government should simply cease to be.
First, there should be a return to federalism, with the division
of responsibilities governed by the principle of subsidarity. The
functions of government should be taken up by the lowest level of
government possible, consistent with the scale of the problem to be
dealt with.
The Departments of Education, HHS, HUD and perhaps half of the
rest, should wither into nothingness, their duties assumed by the
states, or not, according to the will of the people of those
states. The policies adopted by the more local legislatures are
likely to be better suited to their particular needs, and the
policies can be more easily modified locally as conditions change
over time.
If the methods of one state do not meet up with the expectations
of the some people, if, for example, not all states emphasize
direct public assistance equally, then dissenters may make up the
perceived deficiencies through private effort or else leave for
another area which better meets their tastes.
Bureaucrats from the Imperial City should no more dictate local
custom than should your next-door neighbors dictate what time you
eat dinner. The devolution of authority from the federal government
back to the states is a good step toward government responsiveness
and accountability.
Second, federal tax rates should be drastically lowered. For the
majority of this nation’s history, the federal government consumed
around 3 percent of the national income. Today the federal
government consumes more than seven times that fraction.
Our modern military today consumes about four percent, and there
are other necessary expenditures, such as funding the nearly five
trillion dollar debt incurred by the unbalanced budgets of
Democratic Congresses, so we can not easily return to the historic
norm.
But the record of our history is clear: every time marginal tax
rates are reduced, the rate of economic growth increases; e.g., the
Kennedy and Reagan tax cuts. The simple fact is that private
interests spend their money in more productive ways than
government, create more jobs than government and raise living
standards of more people than government.
Furthermore, taxes should be collected on income only once:
there should be no double-taxation. The capital gains tax,
corporate income tax and tax on interest from savings should be
eliminated entirely.
By simplifying the tax code, much of the $75 billion cost of tax
collection and the usually large cost of compliance could be saved.
Dick Armey’s flat tax is an ideal candidate for tax simplification
and rate reduction.
Third, there should be massive deregulation. During the
pro-entrepreneur, pro-growth Reagan years, the Federal Register was
reduced by some 20,000 pages. Sadly, President Bush undid half of
that, adding back 10,000, and after two years of President Clinton,
we are well on our way back to the business-choking nightmare of
the Nixon-Ford-Carter years.
Not that environmental, safety and labor regulations are all
bad, per se. They support much of what Americans consider to be
their quality of life.
But there can be little doubt that 40,000 pages of fine print
are unnecessary to maintain high standards, and constant harassment
by federal bureaucrats and the imposition of inordinate,
job-killing fines are not the best way to instruct businesses of
society’s desires for health, safety, and fairness.
There should be a complete moratorium on new regulations by the
federal bureaucracy, and the rule-writers should not be allowed to
pick up their pens until a thorough review of regulations and the
regulatory process has been undertaken by Congress.
Dismantling the monstrous federal government is truly a heroic
task for the Republicans. To be sure, many of them will be tempted
to use it for their own purposes, probably with much the same good
intention as the Democrats have always claimed. But only by not
keeping Fafnir’s treasure for themselves may the curse of the
Rhinegold be avoided, and only then may the Republicans enjoy their
victory for years to come.
Mahon, a senior majoring in political science, has been feeling
quite Nordic since growing his beard. His column runs alternate
Wednesdays.