We are all painfully aware that local, state, and federal governments are in the habit of unnecessarily spending money. There seems to be no countervailing economic influence to reduce excess spending. Big unions, bureaucrats, and all those who depend on the public purse are always encouraging every possible expansion and are willing, if not eager, to have their neighbors pay for it.
Andrew Jackson put a stop to many useless and self-serving government projects. His biggest “shrink the government” victory was closing The National Bank. Today, so many jobs depend on taking money from taxpayers that it’s nearly impossible for a person with Jackson’s respect for Constitutional restraints to get elected.
The Andrew Jackson Foundation has a solution.
If taxes were lowered, spending reduced, or unnecessary projects eliminated, the elected officials who supported the reduction would receive cash awards from The Andrew Jackson Foundation.
Summing up, every elected official is beleaguered with requests that invariably begin with two words: “We” and “need”. Whole pages may follow those two words. Those endless requests boil down to, “We need you to use your authority to take money from taxpayers and give it to us.”
There is no force that opposes such requests. The Andrew Jackson Foundation would provide a reason to end some increases in spending. Tomorrow’s column will explore how that might be done.
