“The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression.”

Indeed!

So why does the U.S. government keep increasing our repression?

To the quote: amen, amen & amen

That's not to say the costs of freedom are cheap — far from it!  But it appears that the costs of oppression are ever recurring and increasing with interest, while the costs of freedom may be high at first, but the benefits far outweigh the maintenance costs. 😉