An argument for smaller government to increase help

An argument for smaller government to increase help to the poor

from: http://www.american.com/archive/2013/october/setting-the-record-straight-about-the-white-working-class

"There is a very large difference between how southern and non-southern working class whites vote, one Levinson indirectly points toward. He finds, as one might expect, that evangelicals hold more conservative views on most issues than do mainline Protestants, especially those dealing with morality and religion. But on core issues of the size of government or the need for government to help the poor, both branches of Protestantism are largely in agreement, only slightly favoring a smaller government and largely supporting more help for the needy even if it means going further into debt. These findings give Levinson hope that progressives can win moderate working class voters."

While I concede that most christians want to provide assistance to the needy, I do not agree that the current Federal government is the best way to do that. First local and state governments or independent groups, are better at tending to the poor. All government program lack the follow up to assure they are achieving the goals originally intended. Instead of replacing programs the tendency is to add new programs leaving existing programs running. They do the same thing with people working in the programs, leaving ineffective people in place while adding new people to do the actual work. It soon becomes obvious to new people that they are being taken advantage of by the non workers, they slack off and a new wave is hired.

A commercial or non profit operation has much better over site to assure effectiveness. Costco, for instance has well paid, well motivated people and they are constantly being judged by customers and supervisors. Non profits (if not tainted by government grants) are also concerned about the effective use of money.

An objection is that the Federal government has all the money, so failing to go to the federal government as a source of free money, is a injustice to the needy. This is true in the short term, but in the long term, government waste causes the needy to be less well provide than if the money went directly to non government entities, or through local government agencies that can be closely watched by christian or other religious people.

As christians, we are asked by God to be good Stuarts of our God given wealth. That includes resisting allowing government to take money and then waste a large percentage.