Whenever Washington wants to raise money and increase its power over the population, it appeals to parent's fear for the children.
Do you remember the famous Reagan war on drugs which was launched by Nancy Reagan? This was one of the most massive and centralizing big government programs in history. It gave Washington more power over state law enforcement than anything to date.
The Reagan war on drugs targeted children with endless propaganda in the 80s. Remember "You can't fly when you're high" ... pumped into every home by the Reagan drug czar. Frankly, we don't need government bureaucrats raising our children. I think moral guidance should be the sole province of parents, but we all know how much Republicans love to transfer moral authority from families to government.
I think each state should decide how it wants to control its law enforcement destiny. Unfortunately, the Republicans, especially under Reagan, believed in a one-size-fits-all solution imposed from Washington.
I'm not saying I don't like the idea of limiting the dangerous impact of drugs, I'm saying I think big government solutions will make things worse - and the only thing we will have to show for it is another bloated federal agency that serves only itself. I just wish I could convince Republicans to stop being so totally obedient to their own party, and to start realizing how much their party grows government. The Republican leadership has the luxury of Fox news and rush Limbaugh, neither of whom report any of this stuff.
We never hear anything on talk radio about how much the war on drugs cost, and how inefficient it is, and how much power it gave over the states, and how much unchecked general surveillance it packed into federal law enforcement.
There is a certain breed of Republican voter who hasn't had much formal or collegiate education. He gets most of his information from a narrow range of pundits with a very specific political agenda. For this reason the Republican voter doesn't know how much the wars on drugs and terrorism have grown the budget and power of Big Government.
When ever big government knocks on a republican door and says "hi I'm from government and I'm here to protect your children" or "hi I'm from government and I'm here to protect you from terrorists", the Republican voter just rolls over. He trusts big government more than any other single person in the universe. He doesn't understand that Big government often makes things worse, despite its best intentions.
When the Reagan administration was questioned about the massive money and power they were giving to big government, they famously responded that they were doing it for the children.
Thirty years later, the war on drugs has devolved into a wasteful, inefficient big government farce. But don't tell Republicans that - they tend to trust in the power of government when their side is the one making it bigger.
