WSJ Opinion: Bush and Big Government

Nick Gillespie, one of my favorite journalists writes up a summary of the Bush legacy in the Wall Street Journal this past weekend. Here’s a choice quote:

Mr. Bush's legacy is thus a bizarro version of Ronald Reagan's. Reagan entered office declaring that government was not the solution to our problems, it was the problem. Ironically, he demonstrated that government could do some important things right — he helped tame inflation and masterfully drew the Cold War to a nonviolent triumph for the Free World. By contrast, Mr. Bush has massively expanded the government along with the sense that government is incompetent.

The latter is the most important bit. It is more than a sense however, it is the truth. Government’s cure for everything seems to be shoveling mountains of money at problems, rather than actually solving them. First it was taxpayer money. Then it became future taxpayer’s money. My hope for the new administration is that it will stop this practice and start showing some fiscal responsibility.

I’m not holding my breath however.