That government monkey on your back

If you're a private-sector American worker, you have a 25-pound monkey on your back, and it's costing you $583 every month.

The particular monkey I'm talking about is a GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE. Each working person who doesn't work for the government is supporting 14.6% of a government employee... about 25 pounds worth, and he or she is an expensive burden. Your share of feeding that government employee is $583 each and every month.

[Take a moment out here and think about what you could do with $583 every month? That's an extra $7,000 every year]

For most people who work for a living, that's a significant amount of money. If you, like many Americans now, are part of a 2-income family, you're EACH carrying that expensive load. It's a huge and ugly load.

HUGE:
There are 18.5 MILLION government (full-time equivalent) employees... 2.5 million are Federal employees, 4.3 million are State employees, and 11.8 million are employed by local governments. That's THREE TIMES AS MANY as in 1946, after WWII.

UGLY:
On average, those employees are paid almost HALF AGAIN AS MUCH as you are. Federal employees average $66,338. State employees average $47,343, and local government employees average $44,397.

Oh... I might add the even UGLIER fact that government employees have better benefits than those of us supporting them... better health coverage, retirement plans, etc.

[Take another moment here and consider your own experiences with government employees]

Have they been helpful?
Were they doing something worthwhile?
Were they working hard?
Did they treat you as if you were paying their wages?
Do you think they worry about losing their job?
Do you think they work as hard as you do?

Working for government doesn't automatically make someone a bad person, but, unless my experiences have been abnormal, it does seem to change their attitude over time. Most people I've talked to do not look forward to dealing with government employees. Not all of our displeasure with government offices can be blamed on the employees. We usually deal with them because we're forced to, not because we want to, so our attitudes are on the dark side when we approach the dreaded confrontation. Certainly, government employees know that, and experience that, and it's not hard to imagine that it can make their jobs ugly too.

Most government employees do not deal with the public, but they do all have some things in common. Their employer doesn't operate on a profit motive. They don't have that objective measure of how well they are doing as a group. That almost inevitably leads to waste. Stories of government waste are legendary. Government groups are very often controlled by political appointees, and that leads to corruption.

Government doesn't create anything... it consumes. It legislates, regulates, enforces, fines, controls, harasses, imprisons, kills, tortures, destroys... and spends major amounts of our tax money on media campaigns to promote itself and make us believe that its doing great things for us.

Government grows continuously, because it CAN. With the ability to easily grab more tax money from us, government growth requires no more than political whim. Many agencies have such ability to impose large and numerous fines that they don't even require political approval to grow. Government grows because elected and appointed officials create or enlarge groups to provide jobs for election contributors. Government grows because its employees are represented by powerful unions that make political contributions, and expect growth in return.

Americans understand that government is far too large. Of that there is no question... polls have shown that for many years. Polls also clearly show that Americans further believe that government is taking this nation in the WRONG DIRECTION. It's getting worse, not better, and government is paying absolutely no attention to us. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people has become a cruel joke. Not only is government growing continually, it is becoming more oppressive, violating supposedly guaranteed constitutional rights and even basic human rights.

Taken as a whole, our various levels of government can, and do, control every aspect of our existence, sap our wealth and ambitions, and put us in constant jeopardy of losing what we've created. Government schools brainwash our children into believing that government is the solution to problems, rather than the truth that it CAUSES or WORSENS most problems.

Government destroys private solutions by "competing" with funds stolen through taxation, forcing many people to become dependent on government programs. Private charities, which are far more effective and efficient than government programs, have to work much harder doing fundraising, because government has left all of us with less disposable income. Private businesses often find themselves trying to compete, at a disadvantage, with government programs funded by tax money. Private schools struggle to compete with public schools because they must ask families to pay for superior schooling while still being forced to pay for public schools. Government repeatedly handicaps superior private solutions, then turns around and claims that government must "step in" to supplement inadequate private solutions.

It is virtually impossible to imagine just how dynamic and productive American society could be if the huge, ugly burden of government were lifted from our backs. The mere fact that we do as well as we do IN SPITE OF excessive taxation, regulation, and interference should inspire us to struggle hard to rid ourselves of the burden of excessive government.

But how?

The American people have tried exercising their one easy power... the vote... in many ways, to no avail. With two colluding parties rigging elections in so many ways, elections have become meaningless.

Those elected to office from either of the two old parties will do NOTHING to stem government, no matter how bad it gets... no matter how displeased the American citizenry becomes. Anger at many of the actions of the Bush administration is rampant throughout our society. Many throughout the world consider our leaders guilty of crimes against humanity.

In January, a poll was conducted about impeachment of the President... just on the single issue of illegal wiretapping. The poll found that 52% agreed with the statement:

"If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment."

MSNBC is currently asking a broader question:
Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment?
88% have answered YES

In utter desperation, voters turned over control of Congress to the opposition Democratic Party. Undoubtedly, many voters expected a Democratic Congress to bring impeachment proceedings, or at least put a stop to some of the administration's illegal, unconstitutional activities. We have seen NOTHING of the sort from Democrats... not even close... not even a legitimate attempt.

Is there ANY way we might be able to rein in our out-of-control government?

In my next commentary, I will propose an answer to that question... a solution that requires no money and no organized political activity.