CBS 21: Pennsylvania Senator says personal stories show the harm of big government
How big is too big? It’s a question one U.S. Senator is asking about the very place that employs him, the federal government.
The Senator has devoted quite a bit of time and resources to show how some tax-payer funded agencies are costing some Americans nearly everything.
“Meet Stephen Athrop and his family.”
It’s the story of an Illinois resident who’s been fighting federal regulators for decades, after buying a piece of property, an old dump, which had caused the area major flooding.
“Steve obtained the necessary permits,” Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin explains. “He then invested $100,000 and converted the dump into a lake.”
Steve is also the center of a new video series put together by the office of Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson. A program he calls victims of government.
He says he wants to highlight personal stories that illustrate a widespread problem, that of ‘government intrusion.’
“So many Americans are addicted to government, they look to government to solve all their problems,” Johnson explained. “I come at it from the vantage point the government rather than solving problems, is the root cause of the problem itself.”
In the case of Mr. Lathrop, it was the Army Corps of Engineers which denied him permitting and recommended prosecution.
“The Corps decided the dump was a wetland and threatened jail time and fines if he did not convert it back to its original state,” Johnson stated.
We contacted the Army Corps of Engineers and they said they were unaware of the incident and declined to comment.
Senator Johnson says its just one of several government agencies people have written to say have overstepped their bounds.
“People need to come to grips with the fact that growing government is the wrong solution,” commented Johnson. “We’re heading down the wrong path. We need to turns away from that path as quickly as possible.”
Where that path leads is often a source of disagreement for lawmakers in Washington:
If you think the federal government is putting a damper on your life, you can click on the attached link from Senator Johnson’s office and share your own story.
