A government without accountability and checks and balances is not a proper government but a tyranny. In a fallen world having limited and small government is a basic necessity, given how much power corrupts. That is why the American Founding Fathers for example put so much emphasis on limiting the powers and scope of government.
I will feature some quotes from them and others shortly, but let me mention that out-of-control governments have always been a problem, and seeking to keep the state in check has always been an urgent necessity. History clearly shows us this.
Consider for example ancient Israel. To call it a theocracy would be only partially correct. Yes, God was the overall ruler, but the government he established did have a system of checks and balances, and it was meant to be accountable. Thus you had a three-part governmental system, sort of like the three parts of government that exist in America and other nations.
You had prophet, priest and king. Israelite kings were not absolute: they ruled UNDER God, and they were kept in check and held to account by prophets and priests. We see this clearly played out in various biblical narratives, such as when the prophet Elijah confronted the wicked king Ahab, or Nathan the prophet confronted the good king David.
This sort of thing continued in New Testament times, as when John the Baptist spoke truth to power to Herod, or Jesus challenged the leaders of the day, or Paul spoke out against those who would try him. All governmental powers are meant to be limited, and no state is to be absolute.
So in the Bible we clearly find a recognition that no one ruler should have a concentration of power and no accountability. Too much power will always corrupt a ruler, and too little accountability will always ensure that corruption occurs. So there is always a need for having our leaders held up to high standards, constantly under the spotlight, and routinely subject to criticism and careful assessment.
That of course does not happen in authoritarian regimes, but too often that has also not been the norm in democratic countries. For too long too many Western nations have been getting away with murder here. There has been a gargantuan growth in bureaucracy and government inefficiency, and the corruption continues.
Talk of cleaning up the system and getting rid of the rot is heard now and then, but we seldom see it actually happening. Well, now we are seeing it occur on steroids in America. The first 25 days – never mind the first 100 – of the new administration has been a whirlwind of activity, with billions of dollars of waste, mismanagement and corruption already uncovered and dealt with.
The Trump blitzkrieg and swamp-draining
That a deep state exists, that there is such a thing as the administrative state, that a murky and polluted swamp exists, and that a world of bureaucratic corruption and inefficiency exists should be clear to any thinking citizen. This is true not just of America but all states. Governments are in many ways a necessary evil.
God established civil government to maintain order and punish evil in a fallen world. But like everything else, governments can be corrupted, and corrupted big time. What Trump and Co are now doing to uncover the diabolical corruption, fraud and waste of government is almost a prophetic sort of ministry. The evil they are exposing is horrific, and we must thank God that Trump, Musk and others are performing such a much-needed service.
Keep them in your prayers. Already their tsunami of house cleaning and reform is getting all the usual suspects mad as all get out. The Democrats and the lamestream media are spitting chips about all this, and they are right back to their usual lies and deception.
Contrary to their bogus claims, Trump, Musk and DOGE are not threats to democracy. They are however clearly threats to bureaucracy – unaccountable, out of control, and bloated bureaucracy. The level of waste, inefficiency and corruption that has been unearthed in just a few weeks is quite staggering. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
No wonder those involved in the corruption are going psycho about all this. They hate being exposed, and they hate having their gravy train derailed. As Dan Bongino put it: “DOGE has uncovered more corruption than we ever imagined. This is why they are suddenly freaking out in public.”
Or as Ben Shapiro has said: “Elon Musk is exposing corruption, revealing shocking payments, and sending bureaucrats into a panic. This is why Democrats are terrified—no one has ever examined these systems so thoroughly before.”
One commentator said: “You own a store. Your store gets robbed. Elon looks at the video footage of the robbery and tells you who did it. Now, you want to arrest Elon. You’re an idiot.”
Musk put it this way: “‘They’ lied and stole from you for years, and now ‘they’ want you to be angry at DOGE for proving it.” And again: “I’m attacking corruption and corruption is attacking me. It’s as simple as that. That’s exactly what is happening.”
All the more reason to keep going. As Donald Trump said: “BREAKING: Elon Musk has told people close to him that he will spend the next four months working 24/7 on DOGE to cut up to $2 TRILLION from the federal budget. He is going all in and even sleeps in his White House office – per Fox Business. God bless this guy.”
Quotes on government, accountability and resistance
There are many quotes that can be offered here in this regard. Since I mentioned the Founding Fathers above, let me begin by quoting from just one of them. James Madison in The Federalist Papers No. 51 said this:
“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government that is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”
More recent figures also can be mentioned. Ronald Reagan had plenty to say about all this. Here are a few of his memorable lines:
“Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”
“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15.”
“Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.”
“The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.”
“Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”
“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”
In After America, Mark Steyn put it this way:
“Conservatives often talk about ‘small government,’ which, in a sense, is framing the issue in leftist terms: they’re for Big Government—and, when you’re arguing for the small alternative, it’s easy to sound pinched and mean and grudging. But small government gives you big freedoms—and Big Government leaves you with very little freedom. The opposite of Big Government is not small government, but Big Liberty. The bailout and the stimulus and the budget and the trillion-dollar deficits are not merely massive transfers from the most dynamic and productive sector to the least dynamic and productive. When governments annex a huge chunk of the economy, they also annex a huge chunk of individual liberty.”
Thomas Sowell in Intellectuals and Society said this:
“Government consists of politicians, bureaucrats, and judges – all of whom have their own incentives and constraints, and none of whom can be presumed to be any less interested in the promotion of their own interests or notions than are people who buy and sell in the marketplace. Neither sainthood nor infallibility is common in either venue. The fundamental difference between decision-makers in the market and decision-makers in government is that the former are subject to continuous and consequential feedback which can force them to adjust to what others prefer and are willing to pay for, while those who make decisions in the political arena face no such inescapable feedback to force them to adjust to the reality of other people’s desires and preferences.”
In his commentary on Daniel, James Montgomery Boice wrote:
“You say, ‘But we are commanded to obey the state.’ Yes, in all areas of its legitimate authority. Paul wrote, ‘Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor’ (Rom. 13:7). Moreover, in obeying the state we must know that God has established such authorities (Rom. 13:1-5). Daniel and his friends knew this – at least after the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, if not before. God had established Nebuchadnezzar. He had made him to be the head of gold. But notice: the fact that Nebuchadnezzar had been established by God did not make Nebuchadnezzar God. The fact that God raises up rulers does not make rulers autonomous. It does not give them unlimited power. On the contrary, it limits their power, for they are responsible to the One who has set them up–whether they acknowledge him as God or not. The duty of believers is to remind the state of this divine limitation. They are to do it by words and, if necessary, by the laying down of their lives.”
And a few months ago Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy put it as follows:
“Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but ‘rules and regulations’ promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.
“This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers. Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem. On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it.
“President Trump has asked the two of us to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”
And that is exactly what they are doing. Thank God for that.
