To the Editor:

For those of us who like a good old-fashioned scare, this time of year is a real (trick or) treat. Halloween stories of ghouls, goblins, and ghosts make for a fun annual tradition, safely delivering in fiction what would be truly frightening in fact.

Yet while it does not wear a hockey mask or carry a cleaver, Missouri state government is a scary story in its own right. Today, the state spends taxpayer money at a rate of almost $800 a second, and if the fate of last year's tax cut is any indication, it's more likely that this spending will rise than fall. In fact, if some legislators have their way, next year, the state will throw billions more into an already broken Medicaid program. The state seems to be just like the creature from the 1950s horror film "The Blob" — growing and covering Missourians in regulations and burdens as it goes along.

Instead of feeding The Blob, the legislature should take a different approach and return power to the People — through tax cuts and other free-market, people-powered reforms. The Blob was defeated when people united to turn back its growth; defeating big government will require a similar commitment from Missourians.

Patrick Ishmael Policy Analyst Show-Me Institute