JINDAL: Obama’s Woes Flow Out Of Big Government Philosophy

The latest problems with the IRS witch hunt, the seizure of phone records from The Associated Press, the conflicting Benghazi stories and disastrous attempts to enforce Obamacare may all seem unrelated, but they are not.

Each of these events is the direct byproduct of two central philosophies of the Obama administration — the massive expansion of the size and power of the federal government and a lack of trust in the American people.

These scandals were bound to happen. In fact, it was inevitable, and there will be more. President Obama has grown the size, the scope, the debt and the power of the federal government to such irresponsible proportions that problems like these are an inevitable result.

Lord Acton famously noted that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In a pathetic attempt to defend President Obama, another noted statesman, David Axelrod, said that the president couldn’t possibly know about all these scandals because “the government is so vast.” Therein lies the problem. The government is so vast.

Just a few years ago, President Clinton assured us that the era of big government was over. He could not have been more wrong. Now we have not just big government, but big brother running big government.

We don’t know what the president knew of these matters before they became public, and it strains credulity to suggest that his top political advisers were in the dark. But again, when you grow government this big, these kinds of scandals are inevitable, and he bears the responsibility for that.

Are these scandals the byproduct of liberalism or incompetence? I’d say the answer to that question is yes, both.

The Obama presidency, and liberalism in general, are based on not trusting the American people — a belief that big government is better for people. The latest scandals show why liberalism and big government don’t work.

The scandals cut at the core ideology of the Obama presidency. Indeed, these issues aren’t just the failure of an individual, but the failure of a system in which liberals put too much trust in big government.

Look at liberalism across every issue, from healthcare to energy to spending, and one thing is crystal clear: Liberals don’t believe in the dynamic and transformative power of freedom. Bigger government and more power in the hands of a few means the interests of the public will be violated.

Many are wondering aloud if these scandals will tarnish Obama’s legacy or weaken his presidency or cause his popularity to drop. Some of that will probably occur, but it’s not the ever-charming Obama who will suffer the most from these scandals. No, fortunately the biggest loser here will be the paternalistic big government liberalism that Obama has foisted upon us.

We need leaders who have more confidence in the American people, and more skepticism for big government. Maybe we can get Clinton to pronounce the second end of the era of big government? It’s time for Big Brother to be put down.

This piece originally appeared at CNN.com.

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