With the recent one vice presidential debate Between Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz, both leaders emphasized that families are the backbone of America. However, they made a mistake in their approach by suggesting that more government involvement could solve families’ problems. From expanding the child tax credit In advocating new social programs, their solutions imply that government can strengthen families. This is a dangerous misconception.
Instead of empowering families, government programs often create dependency and suppress personal responsibility.
Families thrive when they can shape their future, not when bureaucratic systems limit them. Every time the government comes up with a new program or benefit, it reduces that freedom and replaces it with control.
What starts as well-intentioned help often leads to dependence on the state. For example, expanding the child tax credit may appear to help families in the short term, but beneath the surface it is just another form of wealth redistribution. The government takes money from some families to give to others, often with conditions, limiting overall freedom and promoting a culture of dependency.
As Milton Friedman often argued, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Every dollar spent on social programs has to come from somewhere – from current taxpayers or, worse, from future generations who will inherit the debt.
When politicians argue for more government borrowing, they are not helping families; they place a financial burden on the children they claim to support. These government interventions discourage self-reliance and undermine the virtues that strengthen families, such as responsibility and initiative.
The real solution to helping families is not more government intervention, but less.
By cutting government spending and lowering taxes, families can keep more of their hard-earned money. When families control more of their income, they can make decisions that fit their unique needs, whether it’s saving for a home, investing in their children’s education, or starting a small business.
Families are much better equipped to allocate resources than Washington bureaucrats.
Furthermore, reducing the size of government programs promotes independence. For example, work requirements are essential to reduce dependence on social services. When individuals are encouraged to contribute to society through meaningful work, they regain a sense of dignity and self-worth – key elements to the stability and strength of the family unit.
Government subsidies that do not provide work incentives trap individuals in cycles of poverty and dependency. Over time, these individuals lose the motivation to improve their circumstances, weakening the family structure.
One crucial area where this is clearly evident is criminal justice reform.
Too many fathers, especially in minority communities, are imprisoned for non-violent crimes, leaving families without a primary breadwinner and creating emotional and financial strain. This is another case where excessive government intervention – in the form of overcriminalization – has done more harm than good.
Reforming the system to focus on rehabilitation and second chances would do far more to help struggling families than government welfare checks. Strong families depend on responsible, present role models. Keeping families intact is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty that plagues so many communities.
Rising costs of living are another major problem for families, but government intervention often exacerbates this problem.
In housing, healthcare and education, regulations and taxes drive up costs, making it harder for families to make ends meet. For example, restrictive zoning and excessive property taxes increase housing costs. Rather than creating new government programs to subsidize housing, a better approach would be to eliminate these regulations and reduce the tax burden, allowing the free market to provide more affordable solutions.
The free market has a proven track record of lowering prices and increasing access, while government intervention often does the opposite.
The government should protect individual rights and ensure a level playing field, not get involved in redistributing wealth or trying to manage the economy. Personal responsibility and economic freedom are the key to prosperity. Families need the freedom to choose how they want to work, spend and live.
More government programs will not strengthen families; freedom yes.
Politicians like Vance and Walz, while well meaning, miss the broader point. Families don’t need more government programs; they need more freedom. This includes the freedom to work, to spend their money as they see fit, and to live without excessive regulation. By shrinking the size of government, lowering taxes, and eliminating burdensome regulations, we are giving families the tools they need to succeed on their terms.
The key to strengthening families is not expanding government, but shrinking its role. Families thrive when they have the freedom to make their own choices, without the government dictating their lives. The best way to help families is to help them keep more of what they earn, remove the red tape that blocks opportunity, and promote a culture of personal responsibility. The more freely families can pursue their goals, the more prosperous society will become – not just for them, but for the entire country.
Vance Ginn, Ph.D.is president of Ginn Economic Consulting, host of the Let People Prosper Show and previously OMB Chief Economist in the Trump White House. Follow him on X.com at @VanceGinn.