Three cheers for government

I hear daily, as do most of you, that the “government” is the enemy. Conservative radio talking heads, most leading Republicans and conservatives and a great many Independents all complain about the government interfering in their lives.

To them, the government is taking their money through taxes, destroying American companies’ ability to control their own destinies, protecting criminals, not removing illegal immigrants and determined to outlaw gun enthusiasts’ rights to own their weapons.

Those who have been the beneficiaries of so-called government interference feel 100-percent opposite.

Number one, the federal government ended slavery. Second, it enforced the right of blacks and Native Americans to vote without having to pay poll taxes or take tests. And third, the government enforced, albeit slowly, integration in public schools. The government has done much more for America’s minorities but time and space is at a premium.

So let’s discuss what the government has done and continues to do for middle- and lower-class American citizens regardless of race.

Local, state and federal government provide an economic safety net for all citizens, including legal immigrants and illegal ones, in the form of welfare, health care and Social Security. It also enforces and mostly assures equal opportunity in American workplaces and on school campuses. Again, this is just a few of the things government has and continues to do.

Next, let’s consider what the federal government does for the well-off – upper class and wealthy. The loudest complainers benefit from favorable tax laws that give them loopholes, havens and shelters.

Locally, when it snows hip-deep, whose neighborhoods get cleaned first? And both state and federal governments provide low-cost loans and incentives to the wealthy so they may expand their businesses or even start them.

To be honest, low-cost loans and incentives aren’t a bad thing for the rich but the poor and working classes could sure use those particular perks. And wouldn’t it have been great if recent homeowners who got in over their heads could have been bailed out like the Wall Street types?

Finally, let’s acknowledge what state and federal government does for all of us. Besides providing for our defense, Medicare and Medicaid covers us when we reach retirement age, as does Social Security, especially if something happens to family breadwinners.

The U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency of the government, is constantly and unfairly criticized. The Post Office delivers mail six days a week and on Sundays for a reasonable extra fee. It allows last-minute filers that may owe taxes until midnight on April 15 to mail their returns without incurring penalties and gives hiring preference to veterans.

Additionally and most importantly, no private delivery service will deliver a one-ounce letter across the country for an unheard-of 44 cents. You may argue that private delivery services have better tracking systems but you pay dearly for that service.

A lot of Americans complain about the government but I don’t. I’m here to praise it.

Nelson Graves, of Augusta County, is a columnist for The News Virginian. E-mail him at .