Limited Government, R.I.P.

Limited government in the United States succumbed this morning. The cause of death was a blunt blow to the head by the Supreme Court in its ruling to uphold Obamacare in its entirety. Her age was not known. At least one account put her age at 223. Some estimate she was nearing her 236th birthday while some believe she was born on a bridge in Concord, Massachusetts in 1774. Others believe she was born in the United Kingdom but sailed to our shores soon after. For her part, especially in her later years, she was not inclined to discuss her age.

She managed to live a long and prosperous life despite the challenges of the War of 1812, The Civil War, The Great Depression especially where it concerned FDR's attempt to pack said Supreme Court as well as President Truman's attempt to nationalize the steel industry during the Korean War.

Limited government began her slow decline in earnest during the mid-1960s with LBJ's War on Poverty. Despite the trillion of dollars spent to eliminate poverty, these programs only served to entrench it. Other complications came along the way such as the creation of the Department of Education. President Reagan attempted to bring limited government back to its former health. Despite helping Russia and Eastern Europe out of communism, the best he could here do was to slow down the growth of government. His successor, George H.W. Bush would cancel out these modest gains by signing the Americans with Disabilities Act into law and through tax increases he vowed not to enact. Over the years, both Democrats and Republicans have seen fit to increase their authority over the populace at the expense of limited government in acts both big and small.

Her health would take a sharp turn for the worse in 2005 when the Supreme Court in the Kelo case expanded the definition of eminent domain rendering individual property rights nearly meaningless. The words on the deed weren't worth the paper on which they were written.

Then came the passage of Obamacare in 2009 requiring all citizens to purchase health insurance. There had been optimism that limited government would win the day when the Court appeared to be skeptical of the federal government's arguments. Its solicitor had argued it was a tax when the Obama Administration had argued it wasn't. But instead of seeing through the smoke and mirrors, the Supremes accepted Obamacare as a tax after all.

The only silver lining is that funeral services have not been scheduled. However, public rallies will be organized in its place in the hope that a new limited government will be born in early November.