Letters: Errors of big government?
Re “Obama’s ‘idiot’ defense,” Opinion, May 21
Jonah Goldberg says the White House faces three scandals not because of lying but because a government “that takes on too much will make an idiot out of anyone who thinks there’s no limit to what it can do.” His examples don’t support this.
It appears that the IRS office tasked with evaluating applications from groups seeking tax-exempt status had been left almost on its own due to cutbacks. The office needed more help, not less. The IRS is obligated to evaluate such applications; was the government taking on “too much” here?
As for Benghazi, maybe more security personnel could have prevented the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya. In what way did the administration take on “too much” there?
In going after the Associated Press’ phone records, the Justice Department apparently abused its authority. But does anybody claim that a government should not take lawful steps to stop leaks? So again, this is not an example of how the government took on “too much” but of how it overreacted — something quite different.
Alan Golden
Calabasas
ALSO:
Letters: Immigration and quality of life
A cure for the common opinion
Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
