Somehow I missed this in Barack Obama's Inauguration speech yesterday, but the President proposed a rather important change in how we view the role of government in America, as The American Spectator notes:
President Barack Obama reframed the basis for action undertaken by the federal government. No longer is it right to ask whether a program is appropriate for Washington to take on. The only question is whether the program is effective.
"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end."
He forgets, never knew, or doesn't care that effectiveness has never been the first measure of a federal action. It is an important secondary measure once the constitutionality or appropriateness of an action has been determined. But as James Madison asked in Federalist 41:
"Is the aggregate power of the general government greater than ought to have been vested in it? This is the first question." (Emphasis in original.)
When thinking of our federal government, the first question is and always has been whether that government has too much power -- that is, whether it is too big. Yesterday, Obama tossed that question aside in favor of building a government that "works." The Founding Fathers would be aghast. The people should be, too.
When the effectiveness of a federal action becomes the first and only question, trouble is not far behind. Just ask Barack Obama.
"The secret authorization of brutal interrogations is an outrageous betrayal of our core values, and a grave danger to our security," Obama said in October of 2007. He has made clear that harsh interrogation techniques are unacceptable because they violate core American principles. So, regardless of whether they sometimes work, he will not authorize them based on principle.
The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. The ramifications for the future are equally significant if we are going to further switch prerogatives of the people to responsibilities of government.
Recent Comments