There is no room in a free America for Obamaism or whatever one wishes to call the insult to morality and intelligence that Washington has become. The Democrats' experiment with "government knows best" has failed. Time to straighten out the mess, before it morphs further into "do what I say or else." Government does not have to be big, dumb and destructive.

It is absurd when supposedly free people are forced to pay trillions of dollars in taxes to a government that is doing so little good, and a lot of harm. Killing jobs, reducing freedom and holding back progress is not what we are paying it for. Yet, throughout the long reign of Big Government (1932-2012), Washington has gotten away with these kinds of rip-offs.

The Roosevelt presidencies during the Great Depression were masterful propaganda coups, firmly establishing in the minds of two generations of Americans the insidious notion that a big and powerful government is nothing to worry about. Those Democrats cleverly disguised their Big Brother as a wise and trustworthy help mate, open handed to a fault and demanding nothing in return.

The cult of bigness was reinforced by what Michael Barone calls the "big unit" nature of WWII and, thereafter, in the Cold War. But while defending our freedoms against the Soviets, we forgot to guard against authoritarianism in Washington.

Big government took root in Washington and quickly created a new ruling aristocracy of mostly Democratic politicians and bureaucrats. They soon asserted authority over the economy, education, health care and nearly all aspects of American life. A welter of new behavior-control laws, massive public spending and high taxes became the norm.

Today, Obama and the hard core left still insist that government supervision and high taxes are essential to prosperity. Theirs, perhaps, but not ours.