[djmcmath]

You raise some excellent points, Superman, as usual. I would say the thing that you've really hit me with is the indictment of my failed involvement in government. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I plead guilty to not being involved enough in what my elected officials are doing.

I'll say what I've said before -- I can't make myself believe that either R-types or D-types are anarchists or treasonous. Perhaps, even after seeing so many rapists and child molesters in this bizarre job of mine, I'm not cynical enough? Somehow, I still have trust for people on both sides of the aisle. I may disagree with the means, but I believe that both R's and D's have the same ideals of common good in mind.


As to your proposal ... well, there are some things I don't think government should be as involved in. If I was to approach "gubmint" with the same mentality as Thom and Schrup approach their 911's (holesaw in hand...)... hmmm:
1 - I'd start with the social programs. Sad to say, but everything from welfare to "faith based initiatives" has got to go. Those are all things that ought to be handled at a personal level -- churches, families, that sort of thing. Transition could be impossible at this point, but the goal seems obvious.
2 - Pork would have to be cut, clearly. Spokane Public Library came about because we had the senior guy in the House. I have no idea how many taxpayer dollars that thing cost, but it was totally unnecessary. Pork.
3 - ... Ok, I'll think of more later. Those are the first two that come to mind. Eliminate them completely (yes, it's laughable, can't be done, leaves a billion people starving, blah blah blah), and you'd save enough to perhaps make some other government functions work correctly.


Just my totally uneducated $.02,

Dan