The Liberal Left does not seem to understand what is meant by "small government."
Limited Government, or Small Government, means that the federal government should be limited to the authorities granted to the federal government by the States in the U.S. Constitution. The federal government differs from State governments. States, as per the 10th Amendment, have a broader range of authorities on a much more vast range of issues. The federal government's authorities are few, and limited, and are for the most part restricted to the primary goal of protecting and promoting the union.
Sometimes, an issue can be a federal issue until it enters a State, and then it becomes a State issue. A great example is Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution which gives the federal government (as of 1808) the authority to prohibit the migration (immigration) and importation (slavery) of persons from locations outside of the United States. Once those persons were inside a State, it became a State issue. Hence, the authority was given to the federal government to prohibit the import of new slaves from outside the country, but it was up to the States to individually abolish slavery, not for the federal government to force them to under threat of military force (as Abraham Lincoln proposed, and carried out); and it is up to the federal government to control the migration of immigrants (and prohibit entry by illegal aliens) at the borders, but once those illegal aliens are in a State, a State can take on the issue locally.
The oil spill is a State issue in the sense that the State of Louisiana (and the other States affected) wish to keep the oil from destroying their coastlines. However, considering the spill's origination is outside State waters, it is the federal government's role to be involved with ensuring the spill is dealt with "out there."
Considering the details of the issue of the BP oil spill, it is hardly a contradiction by those who support limited government to consider it an important part of this matter for the federal government to do what it can to take care of the gulf oil spill.
However, President Obama, and a number of writers out in the world of the main-extreme media, have determined that the call by Conservatives for federal assistance, and better action by the Obama Administration, is somehow a contradiction. Leonard Pitts Jr., a writer for the Miami Herald, goes so far as to attack Bobby Jindal in this respect.
The pieces of commentary by folks like Mr. Pitts regarding how Conservatives are singing a different tune when it comes to small government as it relates to the oil spill are great examples of how ignorant the Left truly is on the issue of Constitutional limiting principles.
Part of the problem is that the Left does not recognize, nor understand, the concept of State sovereignty. They have got all caught up in their little brains that federal governments should somehow be fashioned after the examples provided for us by Europe.
Europe is collapsing. Apparently centralized governmental systems do not work.
Liberals also tend to think that if one believes the federal government should be limited, the States must also be limited on the same issues. To the Left, when Conservatives talk about limited government, in the typical leftist fashion of no common sense, they cannot distinguish the difference between different types of government, and so such must apply to all governments.
An example is health care. From a Constitutional standpoint, and the concept of small government, the federal government is not authorized to have anything to do with medical procedures, health care, or the health insurance industry. However, from a legal standpoint, those same restrictions do not constitutionally apply to the states. If states wish to have government health care, they can, provided that the programs are carried out without federal funding.
Government closest to the people governs best, therefore most issues should be handled at the local level. The federal government exists only because the States allow it to, and its primary role is to protect and promote the union. Federal law can only be created in the U.S. Congress (rather than also through judicial activism as some liberals believe), and those laws must fall within the few authorities granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution (most of which are listed in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution). If folks believe something else should be a federal authority, such as health care, then before such a law can be passed, they must change the Constitution to authorize it by amendment. The Constitution should not be subverted by passing unconstitutional laws (which is what this administration is doing), and the Constitution cannot be changed by any other means than an amendment (despite the argument for case law, legal precedent, et cetera).
The problem with the federal government's handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, however, is how they are going about it. Rather than be a partner in fixing the problem, Obama and gang have been spending all their time issuing blame, threatening, and acting as if they are some kind of dictatorial state that must order BP, and everyone else, around regarding the problem.
Rather than having their boot on the throat of BP, and threatening them with both barrels blazing, how about working beside BP, and doing what is necessary to fix the problem? Why not create a project, like the Manhattan Project, where the great minds are brought together to figure out a solution - not because they are forced to by an overpowering federal government, but because they want to assist with a federal government that has also rolled up its sleeves and is getting dirty with the rest of us.
Great leaders don't stand on podiums and issue blame and orders. Great leaders hop down, sink their feet into the mud, roll up their sleeves, and grab hold of the problem with both hands like everyone else - working with all those involved - not working over those involved.
Limited Government guards against tyranny, but not against cooperation.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
The problem with the federal government's handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, however, is how they are going about it. Rather than be a partner in fixing the problem, Obama and gang have been spending all their time issuing blame, threatening, and acting as if they are some kind of dictatorial state that must order BP, and everyone else, around regarding the problem.
Rather than having their boot on the throat of BP, and threatening them with both barrels blazing, how about working beside BP, and doing what is necessary to fix the problem? Why not create a project, like the Manhattan Project, where the great minds are brought together to figure out a solution - not because they are forced to by an overpowering federal government, but because they want to assist with a federal government that has also rolled up its sleeves and is getting dirty with the rest of us.
Great leaders don't stand on podiums and issue blame and orders. Great leaders hop down, sink their feet into the mud, roll up their sleeves, and grab hold of the problem with both hands like everyone else - working with all those involved - not working over those involved.
Limited Government guards against tyranny, but not against cooperation.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Commentary: Oil spill has small government advocates singing a different tune - Leonard Pitts Jr.
The Gulf Spill, the Financial Crisis and Government Failure - Wall Street Journal
Obama Rejects Notion of Limited Govt - By George Will at NewsMax
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