Cure the yearning for government: tell the truth about it. (cutting government budgets and eliminating agencies)

American Enterprise, The, November, 1997 by Payne, James L.

For the past 15 years conservatives have tried to reduce the size of government by cutting budgets and eliminating agencies. History suggests this approach results in (a) bigger budgets and (b) discredited conservatives.

The reason why the cutting approach won't work is that government programs seem beneficial to most people at first glance. Cutting therefore seems to be a dirty deed, and those who do it come across as malefactors. It's time for conservatives to try a different approach to shrinking government: a "truth and balance" strategy which acknowledges that the public tends to favor government programs, but contends that this approval is a spurious product of illusions and propaganda. Give voters a complete account of government programs, and they will...

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