Bring government back to basics

I've seen some letters lately that state basically, "Yes, things are bad with Obama, but let's not forget how bad they were with Bush."

I would say things are no different today. We simply go from bad to worse. The presidencies of Reagan, G.H. Bush, Clinton, G.W. Bush and Obama have all resulted in bigger government. If we use government growth as the only logical yardstick to measure conservatism and constitutionality, then we see these presidents are all simply different sides of the same coin.

The currently used political spectrum makes no sense. These models have Nazism on the far right and communism on the far left. Both represent total government. The only model that makes sense goes from 0 percent government on the left (anarchy) to 100 percent government on the right (tyranny). Nazism, communism, fascism and socialism all belong on the right as they all represent differing forms of total government.

The form of government envisioned by our Founding Fathers sits right in the middle of the later spectrum. It is called limited government based on a constitutional republic that divides government into three branches and then specifically enumerates exactly what each branch of government may do. If the power is not specifically granted, it doesn't exist.

We need to get past the rhetoric and look at results. Reagan was a prime example of this. He talked tough, but utterly failed the only meaningful measure of true conservatism and left us with bigger government.

In the coming years we may be able to beat government back to constitutional levels without bloodshed. But don't fall for empty words and promises. Ask for specifics from those who promise smaller government. Like, "What exactly will you do to shrink Leviathan back to constitutional levels, Mr. Candidate?" "Which unconstitutional agencies and programs will you use your executive or legislative power to abolish?"

Jeff Lonigro

St. Charles