home > archive > 2001 > this article Project focuses on freedom
at state level By W. James Antle III Activism for limited
government has been stalled in recent years. Educational
institutes, publications and web sites dedicated to the free
market and individual liberty proliferate, yet government growth
continues unabated. Despite political efforts to shrink
government that date at least as far back as Barry Goldwater's
failed presidential campaign in 1964, election outcomes
invariably coincide with government expanding its size, cost,
reach and power. Government continues to grow even when
Republicans are elected. Federal spending continued to escalate
and the welfare state remained largely intact under Ronald
Reagan, the most fiscally conservative president since Calvin
Coolidge. Even most conservatives in the Republican Party only
advocate smaller growth of government, and some do not even go
that far. This does not even take into consideration the
moderate and liberal Republicans who are largely satisfied