Principles matter

I believe the fundamental causes of our country’s challenges and crises stem from the will of leaders to uphold, defend, and stand by this very principle:

(1) The federal government serves to PROTECT the interests of American citizens. More specifically, the federal government exists to PROTECT every citizen’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

When the federal government veers from this principle and tries to provide for us, rather than protect us, more often than not what we see are destructive, unintended consequences and more harm than good. Recent example:

(1) Market bubbles occur. They are part of the system. The market goes up and it goes down, and people who put money in the market know there’s the opportunity to make it big, and to lose it all.
a. The reason that the most recent bubble bursting has caused so much destruction and affected so many people, many of whom had nothing to do with the mess, is because the federal government tried to provide for its citizen’s pursuit of happiness, rather than protect.
i. By coercing lenders into providing loans for people unqualified to receive loans and then buying a huge portion of those mortgages up via government sponsored entities (FanM/FreM), the federal government distorted the marketplace. It radically expanded the market for risky, toxic assets! If a mortgage lender didn’t have a buyer for its sub-prime loans (FanM/FreM), it would have stopped making those loans. This distortion increased and spread the risk created by easy lending (of which the culprits are irresponsible lenders and borrowers) to the entire country. Had the federal government kept its hands out of trying to provide housing, would there have been a housing bubble and burst? Arguably, yes. But would it have been as destructive and so spread throughout the entire country and world? No.

Taxes are necessary. We as citizens pay taxes to our governments in exchange for services. Depending on the municipality, we pay taxes for local police and fire protection, schools, street and community maintenance, etc. Depending on the state, we pay taxes for disaster relief, state police, schools, state parks, etc.

Regarding the federal government, I believe that as citizens we all should pay taxes to provide protection of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. That takes the form of a military to defend our borders, a justice department to uphold our laws, a court system for the defense of our liberties, etc.

So if government receives money from its citizens in exchange for protecting our rights, why does it make sense that some citizens should pay more than others? Why does it make sense that 40% of Americans do not pay the federal government, yet still receive the services that the federal government offers? Why does it make sense that 1% of the population foots the bill for 26% of the population? How does that free ride make sense?

I firmly believe that we should not pay money to the federal government for them to just give it to others (earmarks, tax breaks, tax credits, subsidies, etc.). That is incredibly unfair and senseless.

Is it just that I don’t care about anyone but myself? Absolutely not. I DO want to use my money to help others. However, I know I can do it much more effectively by starting a business, donating to a private organization or using it to fund my own volunteer work; rather than giving it to the federal government who when seeking to provide for, causes more harm than good.

Government, and I emphasize the federal government (because at least people can choose which state to live in, like any state but big-government Michigan), should stick to doing what it does best, and that is protecting our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Uphold the laws, defend against foreign/domestic enemies, and get out of the way. The more we rely on, expect, and fund the government to veer from that role, the less freedom and prosperity we’ll see in our time.