The bad consequences of a government program usually don’t show up immediately. And the delay may be long enough to hide the connection between the program and its results. So government never has to say it’s sorry — never has to take responsibility for the misery it causes. Instead, it can blame everything on personal greed, profit-hungry corporations, and the “private sector.” And the government’s cure for the problems is to impose bigger programs, more regulations, and higher taxes …

Each government program carries within it the seeds of future programs that will be “needed” to clean up the mess the first program creates. No matter how much mischief it causes, government always shows up in a cavalry uniform — riding in to rescue us from the problems it created …

Government grows, too, because the subsidy given to one group inspires others to demand the same benefits. And when government protects one company or industry from competition, others wonder why they shouldn’t demand the same protection.