don't name call or belittle, and seem to come at these issues with a measured approach. You have a fair point about the world evolving and needing a stronger federal government, and I see merit in that point. I do feel that we've grown more than that mandate though. Over the weekend I wanted to do some analysis on population growth vs. government employee and spending growth, but ran out of time. Perhaps that data already exists and I just haven't seen it. I also am willing to admit that that doesn't tell the entire story, as we've had entirely new industries created in the last several decades that aren't necessarily related to population growth, so it would require some kind of multi-variate analysis to prove my point. Perhaps the data won't even prove my point, but I have become conscious of the creep, particularly after a lot of the agencies and regulations were created after 9/11 that I feel haven't really made us that much more safe.

Anyway, I'm out for the night, but cheers, and thanks for your perspective as always!