Our Bloated Gubmint.

As my regular readers know, I'm a student of both history and government.  And I relentlessly blabber on about both.  To anyone who will listen.  Or read.  And today will be such a day.  And you may find the subject matter as interesting as do I...

You'll recall from your schooling that our Federal Government was given only four jobs by our Constitution.  Those jobs would be:

     -  Protecting our Borders:  That would include "raising an army and navy," and declaring war. and insuring against the entrance of "illegal aliens."  Hmmm...

     -  Establishing Post Offices:  At least one for every 995 citizens. 

     -  Laying and Collecting Taxes:  Including borrowing money, coining money and paying our debts.  

      -  Regulating Commerce:  Including protecting patents and copyrights, and regulating disputes between "the several states."

You will recall this from your civics class, right?  Remember Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, right?  The "Enumerations Clause?"  No?  You didn't have a civics class?  Well then maybe you were schooled by those more interested in "inclusion" than what you needed to know in order to succeed in the world.

But back to today's subject.  As America was founded on States' Rights, meaning our States call the shots, our Federal Gubmint has only four functions.  So why does it have 27 Secretariats?  Wha...?  Lemme' 'splain...

We've got a Secretary of Defense.  That was one of the earlier ones.  And Treasury.  Gotta' bring in the $Bucks, right?  And State, of course.  Gotta' talk with other countries.  And continuing on, we've got Education (why?), and Labor (why, again?), and Agriculture.  And we've got Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and Energy.  And Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security (which is isn't securing America), and Transportation (gotta' find a job for Pete), and on, and on, and on...

Clearly, Gubmint is America's true growth industry.  If you were to check, you'd learn that 5 of the 8 largest construction cranes in America, the over 200' tall ones, the really big boys, are in use in Washington, D.C. and surrounding counties.  In fact, the 7 richest zip codes in America are now in D.C. and neighboring counties.  Remember when we used to choose against Public Service as a career because the was less, even though the benefits were better?  No longer.  Their pay is more, and their benefits are more.

There are 2,110,000 of our fellow citizens working for the Federal Government.  With an average salary of $118,992 per annum.  That's more than $2,200 a week!  That's 14.5% of our entire workforce.  The U. S. Dept. of Defense is the world's largest employer.  2.86 Million Paychecks.  And 588,000 postal workers cheerfully delivering our mail.  With emphasis on the cheerfully.

We voted for this, folks.  It didn't happen by itself.  And if we don't do something in a hurry, it will continue to grow like the out-of-control cancer it is.  And it's up to you to do something about it.  And don't tell me you're too busy.  Or too old.  Or without political power or influence.  I'm reminded of one of my Father's favorite sayings:

   If not me, who?  And if not now, when?