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Cutting Down the Federal Government is a Good Thing … Period

&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">I am among those who believe that our federal government is too big and too expensive – bloated with waste and corruption&period;&nbsp&semi; In the past century&comma; Uncle Sam has assumed too many regulatory powers that are best handled by states and municipalities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The federal system was the genius of the Founders – and we are losing it to an increasingly oppressive and powerful central government&period;&nbsp&semi; Just what the Founders feared most&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Therefore &&num;8230&semi; any time we have an opportunity to reduce the size of the burgeoning bureaucracy&comma; we should take it&period;&nbsp&semi; Any time we can cut federal taxes&comma; eliminate programs and reduce the number of bureaucrats&comma; we should do it&period;&nbsp&semi; In refusing to vote for a simple continuing resolution to keep the government open as the two parties debate and negotiate the issues&comma; Democrats have handed President Trump a golden opportunity to do a little more trimming of the bureaucracy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Of course&comma; the Democrats – the party of big tax-spend-and regulate government – will do a lot of caterwauling&period;&nbsp&semi; They will declare that every bureaucrat and every program is existential to the security and well-being of every American&period;&nbsp&semi; That is just propaganda and political hyperbole&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The United States was founded on the principle of limited government&comma; with a clear division of powers between the federal and state governments&period; Yet over the past 75 years&comma; the federal government has expanded far beyond its constitutional boundaries&period; This unchecked growth has led to staggering fiscal consequences&comma; a bloated bureaucracy&comma; and a dangerous erosion of state sovereignty&period; The numbers are not just alarming — they are existential&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">This means that more and more programs and functions are being assumed by the most distant&comma; the least responsive&comma; most inefficient&comma; most wasteful&comma; least supervised&comma; and most irresponsible government&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Let’s begin with the raw data&period; In fiscal year 2025&comma; federal spending reached &dollar;7 trillion&comma; up from &dollar;6&period;29 trillion the previous year&period; Compare that to &dollar;332 billion in 1975 and a mere &dollar;42&period;6 billion in 1950&period; That’s a 16&comma;000&percnt; increase over 75 years&period; Even adjusted for inflation and GDP growth&comma; the federal government’s footprint has exploded&comma; especially in non-defense areas like education&comma; healthcare&comma; and welfare&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The national debt tells an equally grim story&period; In 1950&comma; it stood at &dollar;257 billion&period; By 1975&comma; it had grown to &dollar;533 billion&period; Today&comma; it exceeds &dollar;34 trillion — a 130-fold increase since 1975&period; Interest payments alone are projected to surpass defense spending within a few years&period; This is not just unsustainable — it is insanely reckless&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Meanwhile&comma; the federal workforce continues to swell&period; In 1950&comma; there were about 1 million non-military federal employees&period; By 1975&comma; that number had nearly doubled to 1&period;9 million&period; Today&comma; it stands at 2&period;3 million&comma; excluding the Postal Service&period; Despite advances in automation and digital services&comma; Washington continues to hire more and more&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Much of this growth stems from a fundamental ideological shift&period; The left-wing establishment in Washington has increasingly centralized power &&num;8212&semi; assuming control or funding of programs and services that were once the domain of states&period; This federal overreach undermines local autonomy&comma; stifles innovation&comma; and creates one-size-fits-all policies that fail to address the unique needs of diverse communities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Consider education&period; The Department of Education &lpar;DOE&rpar;&comma; created in 1979&comma; now commands a budget of over &dollar;80 billion annually&period; Yet education is inherently a local issue&period;&nbsp&semi; American education was demonstrably better before Washington took hold&period;&nbsp&semi; &nbsp&semi;In fact&comma; education quality and results have steadily declined since the establishment of the DOE<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Another example is the Environmental Protection Agency &lpar;EPA&rpar;&comma; which regulates everything from carbon emissions to puddles on private property&period; While environmental protection is important&comma; many of the EPA’s rules are duplicative of state efforts or so sweeping that they hinder economic development&period; States like Texas and Florida have robust environmental agencies capable of managing local concerns without federal interference&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Then there are the truly absurd programs&period; The federal government has funded studies on romantic relationships among fruit flies&comma; spent millions on clown school in Argentina&comma; and supported a National Institute of Health project examining the effects of cocaine on quails’ sexual behavior&period; We later learned that Uncle Sam helped fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan China – a likely cause of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic&period;&nbsp&semi; These are not isolated incidents — they reflect a culture of waste and a lack of accountability in federal spending&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Even infrastructure&comma; once a shared responsibility&comma; has become a battleground for federal control&period; The Department of Transportation oversees grants and regulations that often delay projects and inflate costs&period; States are perfectly capable of managing their own roads&comma; bridges&comma; transit systems&comma; and waste treatment plants without federal money and micromanagement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The consequences of this federal sprawl are profound&period; It leads to inefficiency&comma; duplication&comma; and waste&period; It erodes the constitutional balance of power&period; And it disconnects government from the people it serves&period; When decisions are made in Washington rather than in state capitals&comma; they are less responsive&comma; less effective&comma; and more expensive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The latest example of fiscal irresponsibility came in September 2025&comma; when Democrats demanded a vote to reopen the government — a move that would add an astounding &dollar;1&period;5 trillion to the National Debt at a time when cutting the National Debt is the only rational option&period; The proposal included permanent extensions of enhanced ACA subsidies&comma; expanded Medicaid funding&comma; and taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants&period; Republicans called it a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;ransom note to taxpayers&comma;” packed with partisan priorities and reckless spending&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">This is not just bad policy — it is generational theft&period; The current tax-and-spend policies championed by Democrats are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren&period; Every dollar borrowed today is a dollar they will have to repay — with interest&period; If left unchecked&comma; this trajectory risks includes currency devaluation&comma; interest rate spikes&comma; economic stagnation and collapse of entitlement programs&period;&nbsp&semi; If you think we have dealt Gen Z a bad hand&comma; just wait to see what we have left their kids and grandkids&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Reducing the size and cost of the federal government is not just a good idea — it is a survival imperative&period; That means returning power to the states&comma; eliminating redundant agencies slashing wasteful spending and imposing strict budget caps&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">The Constitution envisioned a limited federal government&period; It’s time we honored that vision — before it’s too late&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Some steps are already being proposed&period; The Department of Government Efficiency has cut billions from the federal budget&period; These are bold moves&period;&nbsp&semi; They reflect the urgency of the moment – but still not enough&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Ultimately&comma; the path forward requires political will and public support&period; Americans must demand a government that is lean&comma; efficient&comma; and constitutionally grounded&period; We must reject the notion that Washington knows best and embrace the wisdom of local governance – where we the people have the most influence&period; The stakes are high — but so is the opportunity to restore balance&comma; accountability&comma; and fiscal sanity to our republic&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">As of this writing&comma; Trump has essentially fired 4100 bureaucrats&period;&nbsp&semi; One can only hope that this just the beginning&period;&nbsp&semi;&nbsp&semi;&nbsp&semi; The federal budget needs major surgery – and Democrats are only interested in cosmetic surgery while they continue their long corrosive history of reckless spending&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">So&comma; there &OpenCurlyQuote;tis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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