Should the government do good (and more of it)... or do a lot less of everything?

Congress again is talking budgets. Methinks that there will be budget talk ad nauseum between now and the 2012 election. But as sick of it as we will no doubt get, budgets are no minor issue. They may indeed be the defining issue of the next decade or three as Social Security and Medicare and Defense spending continue picking up momentum and mass like an avalanche cascading downhill. Or like wind aggravating a forest fire. Or like hurricanes hitting warmer water. Whatever metaphor you want to use, debt & budgets are demanding our attention, and not for happy reasons.


So, how to think about it? How to advise one's Congressional representative? (should they ever ask my opinion...)


Here are two takes on the subject, both from the same magazine which approaches culture from vantage points of faith. Which statement resonates most with you?


Budgets are moral documents by nature. They reflect the priorities of individuals, households and even nations, exposing our real notions of who and what is valuable. As elected leaders in Washington engage in shouting matches over how to solve America’s looming sovereign debt crisis, the voice of the poor is still getting drowned out. They’re obviously not our priority.

Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path—meaning that federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run. Although great uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, rising costs for health care and the aging of the U.S. population will cause federal spending to increase rapidly under any plausible scenario for current law.

I found myself this morning thinking about what the proper role of government is.   One view of it is certainly summed up in the preamble to our Constitution:



"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Now... does that help settle the budget debate?  Not really.  And even though the Founders were God-fearers (by and large), neither does it tell us what God expects of governments generally.  All it tells us is what our Founders thought ours should be about, flawed men as they were.


A full analysis of the Scriptures on this topic is beyond my reach right now, although I may get to it in my next Seminary elective, which examines the relationship between church and culture in Colossians.  I'll report back if I find something universally applicable.  

(don't hold your breath..)