Big Government Rising?

How does a trillion dollars in more federal government spending sound to you? For most Americans, the idea of growing government at a time when deficits are sky high might seem preposterous. But for many on the left, it’s the only way they can think of to get the economy moving again, and they think some sort of new New Deal should be included in President Obama’s much-touted jobs speech on Thursday. Their end goal? The continued rise of big government.

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Case in point: Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). On Sunday’s Meet the Press, she unveiled her prescription for pulling the U.S. economy out of its slump, and it carries an incredibly high price tag. “I’m talking about a jobs program of a trillion dollars or more,” she said. “We’ve got to put Americans to work. That’s the only way to revitalize this economy.” Now one might write off Waters’ call for a trillion in additional spending as hyperbole (after all, she had some choice words for the Tea Party last month), but the amped-up rhetoric demanding bigger government is becoming pervasive on the left, despite a seemingly endless stalemate this summer over the debt ceiling, whether the government should borrow even more money, and what spending could be cut. Now, though, it’s clear that liberals are ready to keep up the fight for big government, whether it’s Teamsters president James P. Hoffa calling for a war on the Tea Party or Vice President Joe Biden applauding the AFL-CIO for keeping the “barbarians from the gates” — that is, their political opponents. More...

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