The arrival of the Amtrak Downeaster service to Freeport and Brunswick serves as a reminder that everyone loves big government.

Which is not to say that everyone loves the train, although it is very popular and gets more riders every year.

But Amtrak critics, who claim that it is heavily subsidized and does not make a profit, would gladly accept a wider highway between Portland and Brunswick instead. That, of course, would be an even more expensive government subsidized project that would never hope to break even.

Highways, just like train lines, are big government. So are destroyer contracts at BIW. So is Medicare coverage for seniors or Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes. So are schools, fire trucks and police cruisers, which we want to see quickly when we are in trouble.

We have been hearing for months that this presidential election is a big debate over the size and scope of government, but that is not really true.

Both major parties support big government. The difference is who would benefit from its programs.

If there is any doubt about that, take a look at this week’s events in New Jersey where a massive storm did billions of dollars worth of damage.

The next day we saw Republican Gov. Chris Christie with President Obama, singing the president’s praises for unleashing the power of the federal government to help people who had lost everything. Christie is a big government hater, except when he needs it.

This appreciation of big government by its harshest critics in times of crisis is almost universal. Did Wall Street bankers call for deregulation when their bad real estate investments threw the world economy into crisis? Did the auto makers preach creative destruction when their business were collapsing? No. They all asked for and received government assistance.

The Downeaster extension was the right use of government funds in the face of a massive recession. It put money into our communities when the private sector could not, preserving jobs in the short term and investing in our long-term economic growth.

It has already sparked private investment, which should continue to grow along with ridership. We will all benefit, whether we ride the train or not, from the economic activity this project generates. And we will have big government to thank.