Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

January 8, 2010

One by one, the Midwestern states that once hosted America?s major manufacturers are being overwhelmed by the tax-consuming class.

Four years ago, the population of government employees in Michigan exceeded the number of people employed in manufacturing, and government employees made, on average, 18 percent more than private sector workers.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce reports that in 2009, for the first time since relevant statistics began to be kept in 1959, government employees outnumbered Wisconsin manufacturing workers. Fifty years ago, manufacturing workers outnumbered government employees three-to-one; since that time the number of people working in manufacturing has slightly decreased, while government payrolls have exploded.

As is the case elsewhere, government is claiming an ever-bigger share of the Wisconsin economy. In the last legislative session, the state government approved $2 billion in tax increases and increased state spending by 6.5%.

These trends aren?t confined to the Midwest; they?re visible everywhere in the U.S. If not arrested, government growth will permanently destroy our prosperity.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.