Entitle Me Bonanza

So I promised Mr. Harbin a post on why I think entitlements (all of them) are bad and why I think we should work to get rid of all of them.

First and foremost the US Constitution does not bestow the power upon the Federal Government to give entitlements or redistribute money. I know people like to quote the "General Welfare" clause. That however is in the Preamble to the Constitution. The powers laid out below that are what constitutes the powers given to the Federal Government. "The Preamble was never meant to be legally binding and never has been." James Madison had more to say on this subject below.

"If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress…. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America."

Now if the State of Montana wants to give free vet care to cows, that is completely within their purview to do so.

Even outside of the Constitutional argument which really should settle it, there is another issue. When people start to get a benefit or as they say "somethin for nothin" it changes their outlook. I for one believe that if I work hard to improve my life and the lives of my family then I will be blessed with the fruits of that labor. Will I do better than somebody else? Not necessarily. We have all been blessed with varying amounts of talent and ability. Although I do believe in a fair and equal playing field, I don't believe there should be equal results.

Our nation’s founders declared the first object of government is to protect “the diversity of the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate.”

Now, I do recognize to get rid of every single entitlement out there at one time would cause a lot of pain. However, I believe a lot of them could be eliminated and I am all for losing any advantages I have been given due to these entitlements. You can eliminate a big chunk now and slowly bring down the others over time. You also need to inform the people that is what is going to happen and you are going to allow them the opportunity to make their own way and feel the sense of pride that comes in making their own way.

On a personal note, if a good chunk of entitlements were eliminated I would most likely lose my job. That is a price I am more than willing to pay if it means my boys have more freedom and a better shot at liberty than what I have had.

The 10th ammendment leaves all things not mentioned to the Federal Government in the Constitution to the "purview of the states." The Founders understood through long experience that unless government were closer to the people that it would just grow into something intolerable that the people could not exercise strong control over. They consented to be governed, and not to be ruled.

As a closing thought, consider the following statement from Benjamin Franklin.

“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”

Remember to keep yourself informed, and don't be afraid to speak out.