1. The total cost of all levels of government in America as a function of GDP is among the lowest of all developed nations of the world. At the same time, the amount we spend on the defense industry is off-the-charts. It is 2.5 times the size of our nearest adversary China, yet our population is only 330 million compared to China’s 1.5 billion!
2. With total government being relatively small yet our defense department is huge, clearly the amount of money going towards social welfare is grossly insufficient. Despite the facts, Republicans continue to undermine/defund and obstruct government with laser focus on the most underfunded portion of the budget, social welfare. It’s a direct attack on the working-class in America!
3. Government is the core element of any civilized society. As society becomes more complex, concentrated and international, government must grow to meet growing needs to protect the public and allow businesses and individuals to thrive.
4. The big lie told by Republicans and the conservative mass media is that government is too big. Worse than that since President Reagan, the conservative mantra is to belittle it and make government smaller/weaker. They state “government is the problem, not the solution”. This nonstop attack on government undermines its work and creates mistrust to important functions of government like public health and our justice system.
5. There is also a strong correlation between the size of government and the quality of life. Clearly, nations with the biggest governments, have the highest quality of life with a robust private sector and wealth.