There is a consistent inconsistency found in the rhetoric of President Obama and the current liberal leadership of our Congress. On one hand, they consistently proclaim the culture of Washington as broken, corrupt, and stale. On the other hand, they consistently say the answer to everything is more Washington. Following this line of thought, federal government is both the problem and the solution. Of course, I’m not the only one who has noticed this phenomenon. After Obama’s State of the Union address, Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
The central fact of the speech was the contradiction at its heart. It repeatedly asserted that Washington is the answer to everything. At the same time it painted a picture of Washington as a sick and broken place. It was a speech that argued against itself: You need us to heal you. Don't trust us, we think of no one but ourselves.
The people are good but need guidance—from Washington. The middle class is anxious, and its fears can be soothed—by Washington. Washington can "make sure consumers . . . have the information they need to make financial decisions." Washington must "make investments," "create" jobs, increase "production" and "efficiency."
At the same time Washington is a place "where every day is Election Day," where all is a "perpetual campaign" and the great sport is to "embarrass your opponents" and lob "schoolyard taunts."
Why would anyone have faith in that thing to help anyone do anything?
As President Obama sees it, whatever the problem — from
health care to education, banking to the environment — the solution is more Washington.
Simply as a matter of internal logic, this is somewhat perplexing. After all, when he isn’t blaming Bush,
Obama blames “Washington” — a Washington mired in “partisanship” and “pettiness” and “the same tired battles” and “Washington gimmicks” that do nothing but ensure that our “problems have grown worse.” Washington, Obama tells us, is “unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems.”
So let’s have more Washington! In our schools, in our hospitals, in our cars, in everything!
Of course, as conservatives, we know the answer to this riddle: Government is the problem, not the solution. Making society better begins by making government smaller. The vast majority of current politicians in Washington D.C. do not get this. Of course, there used to be politicians who did:
