It’s not “read my lips, no new taxes” this time, but Bush’s claim to reduce big government is just as deceptive and false as the elder Bush’s failed promise.

After campaign rhetoric promising Republican-friendly government-reducing strategies, the Bush administration has helped the government expand to the largest it’s been since the end of the Cold War, according to a new study released by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Public Service.

In 2002, about 12.1 million people worked for the federal government, more than at any other time since 12.6 million in 1990.

After Sept. 11, most of the increases have been in defense. A prime example is the increase in airline security. The creation of the new Transportation Security Administration within the Department of Transportation made government employees of civilian airport workers.

However, other non-defense federal departments have expanded through private outsourcing. About 8 million of the 12.1 million federal employees worked for government contractors and organizations that received government grants.

Increases in the federal workforce are not bad. Jobs are created from these expansions, but when government expansion comes from private outsourcing, there is less accountability to taxpayers and customers.

When politicians and analysts look at the growth of government, many times contract workers are not included, even though their paychecks come from public resources.

When revenue for these resources is shrinking because of tax cuts, where will the money for paying these contract workers come from?

Directly from the pocketbooks of our children and grandchildren, as the federal deficit continues to grow.

At last count, there were still nine members of the Supreme Court, 100 senators and 435 representatives.

The core of our government isn’t growing, and our military isn’t increasing in size, at least not dramatically. The IRS doesn’t have thousands of auditors getting hired by the day. Where are all these jobs going?

It can’t work effectively both ways. A bigger government, whether the Bush administration cares to admit it or not, requires a huge amount of revenue.

The American public needs a show of honesty and responsibility from their president, and it doesn’t appear to be coming any time soon.

Editorial Board:Nicole Paseka, Megan Hinds, Amy Schierbrock, Alicia Ebaugh