Obama On Government: Results Bigger Than Size

President Obama is trying to change the political debate in Washington. The standard tension is between big government and small. Obama has spent the past two years urging people to ask not how large their government has grown, but whether it is effective.

"Government is the roads you drove in on and the speed limits that keep you safe," he told graduating seniors at the University of Michigan in May. "Government is what ensures that mines adhere to safety standards and that oil spills are cleaned up by the companies that caused them." The Obama administration has tried using technology to improve accountability. On the Web site Recovery.gov, people can type in a ZIP code and see the exact projects that recovery act money has funded in any neighborhood. Those who judge government by its size may not like the amount of money being spent on the Recovery Act, but people who evaluate government by its effectiveness see this as a step forward.