Bigdogg;1286114 wrote:Define "big government" you can't it's just a cliche. You might as well believe in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny.
Since the size of things can be quantified and measured, here's a starter list for you:
It spendt $3,700,000,000,000 last fiscal year. That's roughly $11,900 for each and every American.
It has accummulated $16,000,000,000,000 in total debt over roughly 236 years. That's roughly $51,600 for each and every living American.
It confiscates $2,700,000,000,000 per year from taxpaying citizens.
It has a tax code over 72,500 pages in length -
http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2011/07/2011-number-of-pages-in-us-tax-code.html
The same tax code has 3,000,000 words and only started with 11,400 in 1914. This is a 26,215% increase in 98 years, or an annual increase in the size of the tax code of about 260% per year -
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/10/how_many_words_are_in_the_tax_code_.html
It has the largest military expenditures on planet Earth.
It collects more retirement and medical insurance money than any other entity on planet Earth.
It owns more American acreage than any other entity.
It employs over 2,000,000 citizens and rising -
http://www.thefactfile.com/2012/01/23/the-size-of-the-federal-workforce-rapid-growth-for-some-stagnation-for-others/