Godzilla, the “King of Monsters,” perfectly embodies the federal government’s monstrous growth as detailed in Stephen Moore’s new book “Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government Is Devouring Our Economy — And Our Freedom.”
This expansiveness is so staggering that most Americans might be surprised to learn it’s not the basis of some farfetched movie plot. But as Moore points out, the book “isn’t all doom and gloom.” It’s the necessary, sobering analysis we need to save our nation from bankruptcy and the subsequent collapse of our precious freedoms.
Never have so many unsettling statistics been packed into under 200 pages. Nestled among those statistics, however, are four keen insights that every reader of “Govzilla” should discern.
First, what makes Moore’s work stand out is his description of our enormous government spending and what that means for future generations.
The federal government is huge even by its own previous, grotesque standards. The running joke in Washington, D.C. used to be, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” Considering that federal outlays last year totaled $6.845 trillion — nearly 7 thousand billion — that witticism is in dire need of being updated.
To put that gargantuan figure in perspective, federal spending exceeded 30% of gross domestic product for each of the past 2 years. The ONLY time federal outlays consumed a larger share of GDP was during the last 3 years of World War II (1943, 1944, 1945).
Barring changes to current law, federal spending will ebb somewhat as the pandemic recedes, but President Biden’s first budget proposed to keep spending elevated for years to come and at a level that would have been, prior to the pandemic, unthinkable short of a national emergency.
As Moore points out, implementing the Biden administration’s fiscal agenda could (by some estimates) put federal spending on a trajectory to exceed “50 percent of all national output” within 30 years. A leftist dream, perhaps, but like every dream, you wake up to reality. And this reality promises to be a nightmare.
Second, despite the ongoing runup of the federal debt — now totaling nearly $30.3 trillion — we have yet truly to shoulder the extra cost of carrying that debt. Why? As the debt ballooned during the Great Recession and, again, during the pandemic, interest rates collapsed. This allowed the federal government to carry an ever-larger debt at little cost.
But as Moore highlights in “Govzilla,” America’s teaser rates are nearing an end. As interest rates normalize and America’s mammoth budget deficits continue unabated, the Congressional Budget Office estimates net interest costs will triple to $910 billion within 9 years. What’s worse, that projection was issued last year before inflation surged to a 40-year high, the effect of which will lead to higher interest rates and even larger interest costs.
Our elected leaders are playing with monopoly money, leaving us with — as Moore illustrates — mounds of debt that would literally stack to the moon.
Third, throughout the book, Moore cleverly evokes powerful calls to action, saying that we ought to demand better results from our politicians at half the price. Today’s unprecedented speed of technological advancement and computer processing is a testament to the life-enriching innovation that free enterprise creates. Politicians govern; they do not innovate. Shouldn’t they, at the very least, govern well?
Governing excessively is no substitute for governing well. If it were, the current administration would be among the best. For instance, consider the Biden administration’s addiction to federal regulation.
These data were not available when “Govzilla” went to press, but the American Action Forum (AAF) recently calculated that federal regulatory costs, from the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration through March 18, 2022, increased nearly $200 billion. By comparison, during the same period of Donald Trump’s presidency, regulatory costs increased less than $4 billion.
Moore writes, with no apparent hyperbole given AAF’s findings, “America is now under a new regime of regulatory assault …”
Finally, Moore offers 21 “strategies to defeat Govzilla.” Recommendations include implementing congressional term limits, imposing federal spending limits, denying federal handouts to millionaires, and returning considerable power and responsibility to the 50 states.
Each of Moore’s recommendations will undoubtedly face intense political pushback. Consequently, not one will be adopted this year or any year in the foreseeable future. But what else would you expect from those who oppose changing the way Washington does business?
Perhaps Mr. Hideto Ogata, a character from the original Godzilla movie (1954) who had all but given up hope, said it best, “Then what do we do about the horror before us now? Should we just let it happen?”
On the contrary, Moore concludes by calling upon Americans to emulate the Founding Fathers, imploring “every American citizen to risk his or her life, liberty, and sacred honor to make sure this slide toward socialism and authoritarianism doesn’t happen here.”
Govzilla can be defeated. Govzilla must be defeated.
James Carter is director of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Prosperity. Previously, he served as deputy undersecretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and as chief minority economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. Kristen Ziccarelli is a policy analyst for the America First Policy Institute.