One Role For "Big Government"

This is a letter to the New York Times reminding our Republican friends that there is an important role for government and that President Eisenhower understood that fact and acted on it.

To the Editor:

Republicans at their party’s national convention said that “big government” must go.

Sixty years ago, in Chicago, they nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for president. In his eight-year presidency, he initiated the huge Interstate highway system — a historic federal-state government partnership that changed America forever. It created jobs, linked cities and rural areas as never before, and stimulated commerce in ways the private sector could never do alone. Now, many Republicans resist spending tax dollars to refurbish that infrastructure.

Before Eisenhower left office at the cold war’s height, he warned about the drain on the federal budget from the “military-industrial complex.” Now, many Republicans want big cuts elsewhere, but never at the Pentagon.

It seems the Grand Old Party needs a history lesson on Eisenhower’s legacy. He was no big spender, but he was pragmatic and progressive about what government can and should do.

HERB LINNEN
Washington, Aug. 31, 2012

The writer is a former political reporter for The Associated Press.