Back in the days of Constitutional and limited government, people went about their business making household decisions, economic transactions, and personal plans without any help from Big Government bureaucrats. Nowadays it's common to read about “government plans” to help us along. It sounds ominously like those old Soviet “Five Year Plans”. Do we really need this so-called help?

One example is from the Wall Street Journal this week. T. Boone Pickens replies to an op-ed by columnist Holman Jenkins regarding an “energy plan.” (Letters, Tuesday, September 2, 2008.) Mr. Pickens cites statistics about alternative energy sources which I trust are all true. His implication, however, is that Big Government needs to fund His Plan for harnessing “domestic resources to reduce the impact of foreign oil . . . “

American consumers can decide for themselves which, if any, alternatives are worth funding. We do this all the time through capitalism. If an idea seems good or profitable, capitalists appears with the money to make it happen. We've done this with the automotive industry, with organic foods, with computers, and much more. Surely we can decide if Mr. Pickens' energy ideas are worthy of funding without government intervention.

“Energy independence” is another hot-word thrown around a lot. What's so great about any product “independence”? There are lots of commodities that America no longer makes, yet we have no problem obtaining them when government butts out of our business. We no longer make shoes in this country to any significant extent, yet I don't read about “shoe independence” or see lots of folks walking barefoot involuntarily. Computer electronics are largely made in other countries, yet we don't seem to lack gadgets galore. The free market allows consumers to obtain mostly whatever they need directly and more cheaply than Big Government can. Is it perfect? Of course not. Big Government is even less perfect.

Oil is just another commodity that would be cheaper and more accessible if Big Government got out of our way. Think about it: products that are scarce to Americans typically have some kind of Big Government control.

Some might argue that oil is too crucial a commodity (for defense reasons) to allow the free market to decide such things. Nonsense! Oil is indeed important for our national security, the very reason we should allow the free market to handle its acquisition. Oil, like health care, is way too important to be left in the hands of Big Government.

Let's ignore all these Plans from On High. Recognize them for what they are: attempts at scare-mongering, attempts at increasing the power and control of Big Government.