In a Washington Post opinion article that ran Aug. 27 in The Japan Times under the headline "The unlikely chance of shrinking government," Lawrence Summers discusses the debate about the size of government, and how and why the size is unlikely to decrease in the coming years.
This brings up an issue that is always talked about in the United States. Supposedly, the left wants big government and the right wants smaller government. The problem is that this is a major political red herring. People like to think it's an issue, but it is really a distraction from things that matter.
The Republican Party has long said that it is for smaller government, but history shows that it has never lived up to that alleged ideal. No Republican-led government has shrunk government; the budget always grows. What the Republicans really want is more corporate control and less democratic control. This means eliminating important environmental, financial and other regulations that will allow friends of the right to profit at the expense of everyone else. When it comes to rightwing talk of smaller government, I'll believe it when I see it.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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