Obama offers strong defense of government in Michigan speech

President Obama offered a vigorous defense of government in a commencement address at the University of Michigan Saturday, saying the question "is not whether we need a 'big government' or a 'small government,' but how we can create a smarter and better government."

"What troubles me is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad," Obama said in his address. "One of my favorite signs during the health care debate was somebody's who said 'Keep Your Government Hands Out Of My Medicare,' which is essentially saying 'Keep Government Out Of My Government-Run Health Care Plan.'

"When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us. We, the people, hold in our hands the power to choose our leaders, and change our laws, and shape our own destiny."

Since the country's founding, the president said, "we have held fast to the belief that government doesn't have all the answers, and we have cherished and fiercely defended our individual freedom." But another strand of belief, he argued, has been that there are certain things we can only accomplish through working together, and that "government must keep pace with the times."

That, Obama said, has historically been a bipartisan principle. He noted several Republicans' efforts to expand federal power. Abraham Lincoln, he said, backed the first intercontinental railroad and set up the first land-grant colleges. Theodore Roosevelt was an antitrust crusader and created the National Park System. Dwight Eisenhower pushed for the construction of the interstate highway system.

Obama acknowledged that in "certain instances," government has been inefficient and restricted personal freedom. Examples, he said, included a welfare system that discouraged personal responsibility, a tendency to neglect the role of parents in their children's education and failed regulatory efforts.

But on the whole, Obama argued, government is a powerful force for good.

"Government is the police officers who are protecting our communities and the service men and women who are defending us abroad," he said. "Government is the roads you drove in on and the speed limits that kept you safe. Government is what ensures that mines adhere to safety standards and that oil spills are cleaned up by the companies that caused them. Government is this extraordinary public university -- a place that is doing life-saving research and catalyzing economic growth and graduating students who will change the world around them in ways big and small."

"In an era of iPods and Tivo," Obama told assembled graduates, "government shouldn't try to dictate your lives. But it should give you the tools you need to succeed."