Replying to a message of Jeff Binkley to John Crane:

 JB> I'd start with a 10% across the board budget cut for the entire 
 JB> government except the DoD.  Next I'd kill off the Department of 
 JB> Education and Department of Interior.  Their budgets and power would
 JB> be  returned to the states, where it belongs.  The TSA would return
 JB> to being  private, except for an oversight function.  The next year I
 JB> would cut  the budgets another 10%, except for the DoD, which would
 JB> remain flat.   I'd continue slimnming down the federal government
 JB> until the federal  budget was less than 10% of GDP, with a long term
 JB> goal of closer to 6-8%  .  Other cabinet level departments would be
 JB> dismantled and returned to  the states or other federal government
 JB> agencies.  The goal for federal  employees would be less than .5% of
 JB> the total population (not counting  military personnel). 

Good luck.  I'm with you all the way.

Unfortunately, a statistic I noted at least a decade ago (from the Futurist
Society, IIRC) stated that (at that time) one person in three in this country
receives a monthly check from the government; a paycheck (includes contractors
working for the government directly or working on government or government
funded projects), a welfare check, a pension check or a Social Security check
('government' includes state and local levels, not just the national government).
Nobody is going to be able to shut that spigot off.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+