Life without Big Brother

A growing number of Americans are becoming vocal about reducing the size of government, cutting federal spending and cutting taxes. As April 15 approaches, the number of taxpayers who want to change the system will increase dramatically.

But have you contemplated what life would be like without "big brother"?

First of all, if the federal government were to comply with the limitations embodied in the Constitution, it would be limited to providing for the national defense, maintaining a judicial system, setting rules for immigration and eliminating restrictions on interstate commerce by the states. Everything else would be within the authority of the states.

There would be no federal income tax and the IRS would be limited to collecting excise taxes. The Federal Reserve would not have the ability to inflate the currency if the federal government was not issuing more debt. The federal government would not be involved in education, space exploration, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, farm subsidies, corporate subsidies, highway construction, environmental protection and many, many other activities. Our interference in the affairs of other countries would be minimal. There would be no federal food and drug administration and the legality of using drugs would vary from state to state.

Some states would have an income tax and would provide a high level of government services in addition to a social safety net. Other states would rely on a sales tax or property taxes and would not provide many benefits.

A lot of the social safety net that is provided by the federal government would either be provided by some of the states or by private charity. The cost of government would be dramatically lower -- by a lot more than 50%. With less regulation, businesses would not have to spend a lot of time and money on regulatory compliance and paperwork. The federal government would not be able to confer special privileges on unions. There would be fewer lawsuits because there would be fewer laws and regulations that govern behavior unless the behavior is harmful to others.

The U.S. would become even more of a magnet for entrepreneurs and capital from around the world. Consumer prices would decrease due to productivity gains without the offsetting cost of inflation. The IRS would not be terrorizing the citizens.

But many people who are now dependent on the federal government for most of their income would become dependent on the states, on relatives or on private charity. Businesses that derive most of their revenue from selling goods and services to the federal government would need to adjust to a marketplace without the government.

For some this would be good news. But for others it would be financially painful.

Vern