I noticed this op-ed in this week’s edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch from two very liberal Democratic state legislators encouraging the Commonwealth to spend more money to provide childcare services for our citizens.

This column begs an important question that we should at least be willing to think about. Is it really the governments job to provide childcare for your children, or is that your job as the parent of those children?

Oh I know, some will say that sounds heartless, but where did we ever get the notion that the government should do stuff like this, as opposed to parents, families, churches, employers, etc.?

Way too many people these days are more than willing to let the government step in an do almost everything for them, but that defies two of the key principles upon which our country was founded, the principles of limited government and individual responsibility.

You may not know this, but it is estimated that the Commonwealth of Virginia is currently spending more than $560 million a year on childcare programs, with roughly $400 million of that going to the Child Care Subsidy Program alone.

But that’s obviously not enough for these two liberal Democratic state legislators and therein lies the problem – it will never be enough for those who believe the government should do everything for everyone from cradle to grave.

There is a name for that ideology — socialism, and that’s not who we are as Americans, at least not yet. But at some point, we must stop this reliance on big government and get back to reality. If we don’t, we will go the way of western Europe, and that is not what we should aspire to.

And when government fails to deliver everything we want when we want it, we will see the same kind of violent protests that are currently taking place all over western Europe. The insatiable appetite for more free stuff will never end.

As Ronald Reagan frequently reminded us, bigger government is seldom the best answer to our problems, but it is frequently the cause of our problems.

At least think about it.

BILL BOLLING served as the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia