It has been an articulated principle over the years that the Republican Party stood for smaller government. And, so it appeared in the early days of the Trump administration.

There was Elon Musk jumping around onstage with his chainsaw empowered with the ability to cut and slash government spending through a new mechanism called DOGE–Department of Government Efficiency.

The first agency to go was the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) Supported in the past by both Republican and Democratic administrations, it was deemed to be unworthy of any more government spending, though no replacement was announced to address famine, pandemics or natural disasters when they occur around the world.

“Good riddance…USAID is gone!” Its signs were removed from federal buildings. The new administration believed in less government.

Then came the emails to federal employees, requiring them to justify their jobs or be fired. If you worked for the federal government, you were deemed to be expendable.

“Finally,” the true believers thought, “we have an administration that is really going to cut (and gut) the federal government!”

Yet, at the same time, moves were being made to increase the power and reach of that same government. In a time of high employment, a Presidential decree came out that said we must protect American jobs with tariffs. An “emergency” was declared, though it is not clear what it was.

Without Congressional authorization, tariffs were imposed ranging from 10% to 80% depending on the acquiescence and submissiveness of the foreign government involved. Our friend, Canada, was whacked with up to 50% tariffs, and now another 10% has been added because Ontario ran a pro-Canadian TV ad quoting former President Reagan’s opposition to tariffs.

Then came a $9 billion dollar federal investment in a private corporation–Intel. The last big bailout of the auto companies took Congressional action, but there was no talk this time about needing to have Congress involved.

Then there was the $20 billion purchase of Argentine pesos to help bailout Buenos Aires. Who authorized that?

Or what about the tearing down of the East Wing of the White House to build a new ballroom? Where was Congress on that one?…they were out of town, essentially on vacation, waiting for Speaker Johnson to call them back. At last count though, they were still receiving their paychecks.

We are told not to worry about paying our troops during the budget shutdown because an Andrew Mellon heir will purportedly take care of that, and Qatar gifted a fancy new airplane for the White House…no problem there. Even the new White House Ballroom, it is said, will be financed by some, as yet, unannounced, wealthy billionaire.

And, just think of the poor National Guardsmen who thought they had signed up as “weekend warriors.” Now, they may be coming for an indefinite period to police a city near you… as of now, taxpayers are on the hook for that.

Ah, and to think we were about to enter an era of smaller government.

Sit back and relax. In this administration, “best” means “biggest.” Everything is now the biggest it has ever been (including the deficit,) and the long arm of the federal government is bigger than ever.

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.