CHART: The Historical Growth of Government

In good times and bad, government grows.

The ever-encroaching 'might' of the government - or perhaps, put another way, the ever-decreasing need to be gainfully employed or productive...

People who choose to work in government aren't angels, they aren't better than you or I. Many are just as corrupt and greedy as miscreants in the private sector. The difference: government corruption steals liberty from each and every one of us.

That is why government just can't seem to downsize.

In retrospect, it would appear that the 16th Amendment -- which legalized the federal income tax in 1913 -- provided the jet fuel for the Beltway's power-hungry elite.

The result? As the government expands, individual liberty contracts.