Read my Washington Times op-ed to find out. It begins:
In the era of the leviathan state, we need the Constitution more than ever. When most citizens think of our obviously expanding government, we think of the direct, obvious costs. The deficit hits record levels, bank bailouts costs $1 trillion, the stimulus nearly matches that, and total government spending — as a percentage of gross domestic product – reaches numbers not seen since the nation’s life-and-death struggle during World War II. We’re staggered by those numbers, worry about the debt we’re passing on to our children and wonder if we live in a nation in decline.
But there’s more.
Massive spending means massive government — a system that reaches into virtually every corner of our lives. From house loans to student loans to light bulbs to toilets and even to the cars we buy and drive, we feel the government’s direct hand. Corporate executives worry about “pay czars,” doctors worry about government-set prices for their services, and we all wonder if the Internal Revenue Service will be monitoring our health insurance choices.
Massive government means government control, the strings attached to money, to participation and even to expression as the government goes beyond the original purpose of its multitude of programs and attempts to alter social outcomes, favor certain viewpoints and — most ominously — suppress others.
One such example is a case that will be heard before the Supreme Court on April 19.