One More Reason to Limit Government Power

Carol Platt Liebau | December 17, 2008 1:41 PM

Jon Stossel rightly points out that when it comes to government "scandal," the real shocker is what's legal. Charles Schumer and the Democrats, as he notes, can reap the political rewards of bailing out everyone -- with money taken by (implicit if not explicit) force from the taxpayers. And lobbyists proliferate apace with every new power assigned to Washington, since there's just that much more government-offered largesse to compete for.

Ronald Reagan once noted that a government that's powerful enough to give everyone everything they want is powerful enough to take everything we have. And PResident Bush himself admits that, at this point, the US has jettisoned a good many of its free market principles.

Isn't it time that the politicians who are eagerly rushing to assume control of American businesses -- with the enhanced power and potential for hefty donations that accompanies it -- start setting some parameters for how and when they might just back off when conditions improve?