The creative "minimum"?

For those who, like me, are both concerned and angry over our government's Soviet-esque policy of turning away qualified foreign workers, this George Will column is a must-read. But buried deep within the characteristically turgid prose is a very interesting turn of phrase:

If you seek (redundant) evidence of the federal government's refusal to do the creative minimum -- to get out of the way of wealth creation -- come here and hear the talk about the perverse national policy of expelling talented people. (emphasis mine)

"Minimum"? Does that not imply that the government could do more than simply get out of the way and let the private sector do its job? Aren't conservatives in the business of selling us the line that the best economic management is no economic management? If laissez-faire is the minimum...what's the maximum?

I thus see a tiny inkling - nay, perhaps merely a glimmer - of hope that Republicans are starting to wake up to something economists have long known: Public goods exist.