This column by Newt Gingrich is really bothering me: Bobby Jindal, America’s Most Transformational Governor – HUMAN EVENTS. Near the beginning of the column,

The principles that motivate his Louisiana Revolution are the same pro-innovation, pro-competition, anti-bureaucracy and anti- big government principles that I urge each week in this newsletter – the same principles that are so desperately needed in Washington, D.C.

Let’s take a look at what these words mean.
Pro-innovation. Fine. Pro-competition. Fine. But let’s look at what “anti-bureaucracy” and “anti-big government” actually mean.
In a democracy we have openness and transparency. The use of our money and resources is accountable to the people. And how do we make sure that government is open and accountable? We have careful procedures and oversight in place to ensure that the money and resources are used as they should be used. This means you have to make sure that every i is dotted and every t is crossed before you approve something. Otherwise you get politicians giving contracts to their brothers-in-law, department heads taking trips to luxury resorts, and other corruption that history has taught will always occur.
Conservatives like to complain about “bureaucracy” and claim that corporations are more ‘efficient” than government, but what they are really complaining about is openness and democracy. Yes, it is more efficient to have one executive making decisions and telling us how it is going to be. And yes, it is less bureaucratic to just ram projects through and award them to your friends. But let’s take a look at the results of the conservative revolution in government of the last few years. We have seen so many “no-bid contracts” awarded to well-connected companies, with no oversight and no accountability at all. Reporters who can get past the secrecy have discovered that literally billions upon billions of our tax dolalrs have been stolen, can’t be accounted for at all! This is what the conservatives meant when they said they wanted to get rid of bureaucracy — they meant they wanted to take off with the money!
And what about “anti-big-government?” Just what do they think government IS? The first three words of our Constitution are “We, the People.” THAT is what government is. We, the People make decisions about how we will invest our resources and how we will distribute the return on that investment. Those resources include our minerals, oil, coal, water, as well as our people, companies, laws and intellectual property. We, the People making the decisions.
So when they complain about government they are really complaining that We, the People are in charge. And “big government” means We, the People in charge of more of our own destiny. If they don’t want We, the People in charge — what DO they want? Think about that. The alternative to big government is big corporations making the decisions about our resources, people, oil, coal, laws, etc. That is what this really means. And this has proven itself out, hasn’t it? As we have lived through the conservative revolution, we have seen more and more of the control of our resources and our desitiny shifted away from QWe, the People and into the hands of the few who control the big corporations.
So don’t be fooled by shiny words. When you realize what these conservatives really want you see that it is about taking control away from you and me and giving it to a wealthy few.