Thomas F. Schaller makes the usual liberal mischaracterization of conservatives by asking in his op-ed column, "Why do conservatives hate government so much?" ("How government is like insurance," June 29). Of course, this is completely inaccurate since it's excessive government that conservatives hate, not government. He lists all the benevolent things a government can do and stops just short of drawing a picture of a fireman rescuing a little girl's kitten from a tree before pointing to conservatives and asking, "How could they hate that?"
What he doesn't address is our government overreaching its authority by pushing through ridiculous schemes like cash for clunkers, which allowed my wealthy neighbor to get $8,000 of American taxpayer money so he could trade in his aging SUV for a new car. He doesn't address our government taking our grandchildren's money then picking winners and losers with that money in the bank bailouts. He doesn't address the government giving tax loopholes to giant corporations like General Electric so they don't pay a penny on their taxes. He doesn't address using taxpayer money to fund things like public radio and cowboy poetry festivals. He doesn't address our government lifting the limit on the amount of debt that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can push off on our children just to keep mortgage lenders from having to file for bankruptcy.
Why does he omit all the things conservatives really rail against? I don't know, but it certainly appears on the surface that he has a political agenda to paint conservatives as evil and liberals as benevolent.
Let's settle this right now. Conservatives are not anarchists. They believe in a government. It's just that they believe there should be limits to what the government can do. Anything that goes beyond those limits is excessive government, and that's what the conservatives hate. Saying conservatives hate government is every bit as wrong as saying liberals love government. Do liberals really love all government? No? Then can we start having a real discussion about this, please?
Fred Pasek, Frederick