Simple facts.
- In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt went to Kansas and made one of his “square deal” speeches, promising to give the little guy a fair shake. The same theme had inspired much of his popularity as president during the preceding decade.
- In 2011 Barack Obama went to Kansas and invoked Roosevelt in a speech promoting higher taxes on wealthy folks to pay for more government spending on education and “infrastructure.” He too called for a square deal, but with less colorful language. He preferred the word “fair,” as in "pay your fair share."
- After Teddy had provided a “square deal” for seven years, federal spending as a percentage of GDP was under 10%.
- After Barack had provided his for three years, federal government spending as a percentage of GDP was about 40%.
Couldn’t we just settle for more than twice the fairness that Teddy demanded, by cutting the government in half?
