Best government secures blessings of liberty for all

Longtime readers have seen this editorial before, so please excuse the repetition. But it’s important:

Our newspaper does not endorse political candidates.

That’s primarily because few reflect the core values of limited government.

Those seeking office on Nov. 3 are mostly well-intentioned people. Their hearts are usually in the right place, but their goals are seldom to make government smaller and individual responsibilities greater.

Try asking candidates, “What is the purpose of government?”

The answers almost always prove disappointing.

Most answers are along the lines of “Government should help people,” or “Government should protect people.”

Those answers are incorrect.

The purpose of government, according to our Founding Fathers, is simply to “secure the blessings of liberty” for everyone.

Most of us don’t want government to “help” us, we want government to make sure we can help ourselves.

We don’t want government to “protect” us, we want government to make sure we can protect ourselves.

Even the libertarians among us disagree on how best government can accomplish its mission. But those who support the concept of limited government almost all agree government should not be expected to entertain us or “give” us anything.

Remember, government has no money except for what it takes from those it’s supposed to represent.

There are plenty of people, maybe even a majority — Democrats and Republicans are equally responsible — who think government can create a better place to live by pooling everyone’s resources.

One problem with that idea — socialism — is that not everyone wants public golf courses or even public schools, but everyone is forced, through taxation, to fund those programs.

Public transportation may seem like a good way to “help” people, but most small-town residents don’t need it. While many might volunteer to fund public transportation, many others are struggling to pay for their government-mandated car insurance.

And how would you feel if you owned a taxi service and you were forced, through taxation, to fund your competition?

Of course there are plenty of people who want government to provide services and even entertainment.

For some, the idea of having government, or someone, take care of them is comforting.

Understood.

Unfortunately, government isn’t good at taking care of us. Think about it. Do you think government is more likely to preserve our future water supply, or contaminate the water we have now?

And yet, government seems to want to take on more responsibilities, even weighing in routinely on morality issues.

Government incompetence always grows with the size of government.

So those are some of the reasons our newspaper does not endorse candidates who want to grow government, which is pretty much all of them.

This is not intended to discourage anyone from voting, but perhaps it will encourage voters to reject those who want to grow government the most.

And if candidates are reminded that their responsibility is to secure liberty for us all, mission accomplished.

— David Stevens

Publisher