Goldwater Was Right about the Dangers of “Big, Inflationary Government”
By Vicki Alger • Tuesday August 21, 2012 3:03 PM PDT • 3 Comments
In Sen. Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign ad against big government, the narrator warns a young boy who’s parking his bike at grandma’s house, “Don’t look now young man, but somebody has his hand in your pocket. It’s the hand of big government. It’s taking away about four months pay from what your daddy earns every year — one dollar out of every three in his paycheck. And it’s taking the security out of your grandmother’s Social Security.”
Nearly 50 years later, that little boy is likely having his Social Security benefits garnished to pay off college student loans. The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch reports that incidents of retirees’ Social Security benefits being garnished to repay delinquent student loans are on the rise.
“From January through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000 retirees’ Social Security checks on those grounds,” according to Market Watch. “That’s nearly double the pace of the department’s enforcement in 2011; it’s up from around 60,000 cases in all of 2007 and just 6 cases in 2000.”
In many cases, seniors are on the hook for their children or grandchildren’s loans. In other cases, retirees are still trying to pay off loans for going back to college during their 40s and 50s.
Though precise amounts vary, the government withholds up to 15 percent, nearly $190 month based on average monthly benefits. “This is going to catch an awful lot of people off guard and wreak havoc on their financial lives,” said Sheryl Garrett, a financial planner in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
This is a potent cautionary tale for anyone who thinks it’s government’s job to take care of us, whether it be through “affordable” college educations, “guaranteed,” lock-box protected retirement, or accessible health care.
Sen. Goldwater concluded his 1964 ad by reminding viewers: “You know, that’s the great trouble with big, inflationary government. It takes more and more of your earnings. It slowly but surely destroys individual initiative and responsibility. The government must draw its strength from the people, and as it drains away this strength, it must inevitably undermine the foundations of self-government.” Government, Goldwater said, is supposed to be a servant “and not the master of us all. In this free nation we do not choose to be ruled, we elect to be governed.”
Tags: Budget and Tax Policy, Constitution, Education, Employment, Free Market, Government subsidies, Healthcare, Nanny State, Personal Liberty, Politics, Privatization, Social Security, Taxation, The State 
After the JFK assassination,which LBJ probably played a part in,America has never been the same. America has drifted into Fascism. Barry Goldwater was probably the best presidential candidate to come along until Ron Paul. Certainly,if he came to power in 1964 America would not be facing the many problems that were caused by the Great Society Welfare State;the debauching of our currency,an unsustainable debt,high taxes and a strangling government bureaucracy. Also,there would be thousands of Americans who would be alive today by avoiding the Vietnam debacle. Goldwater was vilified by the LBJ campaign. And the fools who voted for Johnson,if their around today, probably can’t figure out why things turned out so bad for America. Yes,the JFK assassination and the election of Lyndon Johnson was a watershed,in the negative,for America.
libertarian jerry | Aug 21, 2012 | Reply
If we were a truly free nation we would not elect to be governed. Each person would decide for themselves how they are to be governed, and not all of us would decide the same way.
shemsky | Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
So big government is reaching into the back pocket of big government.
You can argue that federal student loans aren’t the best way to increase higher education, you can argue that perhaps all these people don’t need higher education, you can argue social security is a sham.
I have no idea how saying the government garnishing your social security because you signed or co-signed a student loan is the negative result of big government. Its the result of you getting (or cosigning) on someone getting a degree that doesn’t pay for itself. Its a malinvestment.
Daniel | Aug 22, 2012 | Reply