US Per Capita Federal Spending Up Sevenfold Since 1941, by Terence Jeffrey.

In fiscal 1941, real per capita federal spending was approximately $1,718. In fiscal 2017, which concluded at the end of September, it was about $12,239. …

America was founded with a federal government whose primary function was to protect the liberty and independence of the people. We now have one whose primary activities make people dependent on the state.

We need more self-sufficient people and less government. That will require a rare class of politicians who seek power in the federal government to diminish the power of the federal government — and who do not change their minds once the people have entrusted them with that power.