Cathy, the key word in your long post was "balance." And that's what is missing.

When the government is so bloated that it accounts for 40% of the GNP there is something radically wrong.

Go look at Thomas Jefferson's organizational plan if you want to see how government could be at least semi-rational.

Unfortunately, the Federalists were too powerful, leading, inexorably, to the centrist government that we have.

not to start anything - but have any of you ever worked for the government?

I did - four years - and too many employees in each department - yes they are our neighbors, etc. and yes I do appreciate the services provided by those that we need - but there is no reason for 36 employees to be sitting in one department all doing the same job at a pace that would turn your stomach.

And if no one did a thing - no one cared - and no one cared to know.

That particular department really needed 4 to 6 people who were interested in performng the job duties at a decent pace.

nuff said

Cathy, I do appreciate any individual that actually works for a living. The Government employees that tick me off are like a school bus driver here that made 250,000.00 last year, a police chief that resigned before he got fired and collected 380,000.00 for un used sick and vacation days because he claimed to have never taken a sick day or had a vacation during his entire career or a school administrator who had to top the police chief.
When I drive down the road and have to go through several miles of road construction and lane closer before actually seeing work being done and it's 1 guy with a shovel and another 6 are standing around bull ****ing, Those are the people I have no respect for.
I don't have any respect for all the people on government payroll because they are a relative of someone and ended up with a nice job as a supervisor of absolutely nothing. I had better stop cause this rant could get way to carried away.

I do appreciate services and individuals that suit a legitimate purpose and get paid accordingly for that service.

Yes, Cathy, as others have offered, I am grateful to and thankful for the necessary government worker. There ARE indeed many that we DO need.

But the government never seems to be held to the same practical standards that most businesses need to, to stay afloat. They sometimes tend to over-staff, mismanage funds (tax-payer money) and create depts. that there really is no real need for.

In my personal experience, most employees tend to work at peak performance when a dept is understaffed very slightly. When this occurs- most folks kick it up a notch, pitch-in together and really perform well, even over-perform. This doesn't always seem to be the case w/ government, though. Also- when a business begins making less profit and finds it needs to trim, it has no choice but to cut fat and become more efficient. But when it's the government that finds itself in that situation, too often they simply raise taxes, rather than doing these alternative, creative things that make small business inovative and successful.

It's all in the management of tax-payer funds, human talent, and other resources...

But again, like you said- postal workers, police and fire and other emnergency folks- golly moses- we're glad we gott'em!