By Printus LeBlanc
The biggest problems facing American families is the omnipotent presence of government in every facet of life. Federal, state, and local governments are ruling citizens and not governing. In modern life, it is impossible for a family to live without interacting with a level of government.
The average American commits three felonies a day per the 2009 book by Harvey Silverglate. That doesn’t include the state and local laws being broken. Recently a woman freed a bald eagle from a trap while on a nature hike in Juneau, Alaska. The woman was proud of what she did, and she had every right to be. It is illegal to harm bald eagles. Upon learning about what the woman did, Alaska Wildlife Troopers arrested her in 2014. Law enforcement, said the woman tampered with someone else’s traps, despite the fact the trap illegally trapped a bald eagle. The case was eventually dismissed, but the woman had to go through an ordeal to get it dismissed. If the government cannot even tell the American people how many laws are on the books, there are too many laws.
American families see the government getting away with crimes against citizens while the families are penalized and harassed for too many leaves in the yard. The Department of Veterans Affairs is a perfect example of double standards in government. Veterans were put on secret waiting list for care for VA employees collecting bonuses. VA employees lied on federal documents to collect bonus money. If you include the multiple people in a VA hospital that knew of the fraud, but became complicit for the purpose of collecting a bonus themselves, you now have a conspiracy to commit fraud. Yet, as of this writing, no charges have been filed against any VA employees. Perhaps it is because the DOJ and VA are both run by government unions.
Hypothetically, let’s say a young American family wishes to start a business. What the family did not realize, was the amount of paperwork, mandated training, fees, and government interference required to start a business. The first idea was to start a gun shop with a range. They quickly find out banks do not want to do business with them. The government threatens banks that do business with businesses it disagrees with. The business is doing nothing illegal, the government just doesn’t like it. The family then tries to start a barbershop and salon. Once again, more regulations, fees, and training. Some state governments, even require up to 300 hours of training on hair washing. By that standard the hundreds of millions of Americans that wash their hair everyday are not doing it correctly.
When members of a family have a job, they must hope the government doesn’t shut them down. This was the sad reality facing thousands of workers in the energy industry. No administration was as anti-energy as the Obama administration. Coal miners were having their livelihood ripped away from them. Government officials harassed oil field workers daily. The government forced these families out of work, then forced them to take government assistance to live. They want nothing from the government, but to be left alone.
These are but a few examples of government interfering with American family lives, and getting away with crimes the public would never get away with. The greatest impediment facing the American family is government. Congress has an opportunity to relieve pressure the federal government is applying to American families. Congress must roll back regulations and laws that interfere with American families.
Printus LeBlanc is a contributing reporter at Americans for Limited Government.
