All the Republican Candidates rail against BIG government. Obama and company blast away at Big business. There is a grain of truth in both arguments. However, the claim of neither side is credible in part because neither party admits any merit to the other's charge. Furthermore, neither party has a record of following up on its promises.
Is big government the problem or is it inefficient government? Government that has been captured by interest groups, lobbyists and big business? The founding fathers were alert to the dangers of tyranny and invented the system of checks and balances at the heart of the Constitution. But they could not have imagined the huge limited liability corporations that arose in the 19th century and have continued to expand their global reach. Although they do not have the power to imprison or tax, these companies have the potential to cause suffering as surely as despotic governments. If Republicans are so concerned about abuse of power by big government, why aren't they also concerned about abuses by the business sector? Instead they propose to massively roll back regulation. They, with help from their masters in the finance industry, have successfully fought implementation of Public Law 111-203 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Of course, the biggest threat to the social order comes when government acts in collusion with big business to promote crony capitalism rather than free market capitalism. On January 17, 1961 in his Farewell Address to the Nation President Eisenhower warned of the threat to liberty from the "military industrial complex." Today he might opt for the "financial, prison, military industrial, legislative complex."
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