Taking control back from the political class: 2010 Archives

John Hinderaker at Power Line notes a recent poll that finds that 62% of the American public believes that the Democratic White House and Congress are operating without the consent of the governed. Hinderaker rightly calls this finding "stunning" and terms it a "dangerous disaffection."

He gives his view on why this is happening:

I think the more significant cause, however, is the general one--a growing conviction that America is governed by a political class that has its own agenda, involving its own enrichment as well as the endless expansion of its own power, and that this political class is contemptuous of the opinions of ordinary Americans and is determined to impose its will regardless of how Americans vote. I think this perception is in fact true.

The strongest evidence is the history of federal spending in the modern era, which began in the 1960s. Here it is, in constant dollars:

There have been several occasions when the American people have voted for smaller government; most notably in 1972, 1980 and 1994. But it really doesn't matter. You can vote for limited government, but you can't get it; the political class won't let you. This is not to assert the silly proposition that there is no major difference between Democrats and Republicans. The fiscal disaster that we have witnessed since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 proves the contrary. But still: experience shows that voting for Republicans hasn't been enough to offset the power of the political class.

And when the people rebel, they are ridiuled and abuse, witness the scorn heaped on Tea Party activists by Democratic (and some Republican) political elites and their supporters in the mainstream media.

Hinderaker wonders whether the revolt will succeed:

It remains to be seen whether the American people can finally break the grip of a political class that remains determined to run their lives and misappropriate trillions of dollars of their wealth. It will be, I think, a close-run thing. In the meantime, there is no mystery as to why most Americans do not regard the federal government as legitimate in Jeffersonian terms.

Read it all.

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit posts some suggestions in response to the Codevilla and Hinderaker pieces. Taking back control can start at local government where alienation is a fact of life as well.

Even at the town level in Chatham, one gets the feeling that taxpayers are paying for what the town employees decide they want when the town employees should be working for them and doing with they want. Prime example: A half billion dollar centralized sewer, whether you want it or not, whether you think it's needed or not, and even though we never allowed you to vote for the full sewer plan and tricked you on the one vote we let you have.