If, as Thomas Paine so eloquently stated some 200 years ago, government is a necessary evil, why do we as Americans continue to elect people whose sole goal is to continue to increase the size of government?  According to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics, as of 2008, there were 1.9 million civilian federal employees, excluding the postal service.  But according to a 2006 Washington Post story, if you include the military, postal service and contractors, it is closer to 14.6 million.  That is too many.

If this November you really want a change in Washington, DC, and I’m talking about real change, not the emotional, hopey-dreamy change Obama served up on a silver platter with a side of voters remorse sauce, but change that will reduce the amount of necessary evil we have to deal with, then you should, no you must pay attention to the candidates running for office this fall.  If the primaries haven’t yet been held where you live, you should get involved in them as well. 

We don’t need the best and the brightest.  After all, the Democrats claim that they’ve got the best and brightest in DC now and look what that got us – a change for the worse.  What we need are people with common sense who know how to balance a checkbook and have run a business before.  We need people who have been parents who aren’t afraid to treat a spoiled constituency like the spoiled children that they are and tell them “No!” for once.  We need people who take pride in getting a job done well, not those who would sell out their morals and country in order to get more power, prestige or access to posh parties.

In other words, we need to finally send some adults to Washington.  And if you don’t like the current crop of candidates, for either local or federal, and these qualities apply to you, get off your rear and run yourself.