I'm pretty new to the site, and I haven't seen a post on exactly [i]what[i] the federal gov't should be in charge of, and I think this issue (thanks to Dr. Paul) has merit in the race.

So, what do you all think? Has our favorite uncle gotten too big for his britches? Or is he finally getting healthy?

Personally, I'd like to knock him back down to the four agencies he started with (post office, trademark office, transportation, and defense), redo Homeland Security, OSHA,and the EPA and then put the fat man on a diet. But, hey... that's just me.

The only legitimate function of government is to protect the unalienable rights of individuals under Natural Law. That was the original intent of the Constitution.

Government should pass no laws attempting to control the peaceful, honest, voluntary activities of adult individuals. The government should only get involved when one individual or group initiates force, fraud or coercion against another individual or group acting peacefully. That is government's only legitimate role.

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

It's a complicated question. The answer has changed over the years according to various amendments. With that said the feds have their hands in too many things IMO.

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Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness ~Thomas Paine

Word!!

To protect INDIVIDUAL Liberty!!!

Amen to that

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"I pity those that take authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority."

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws." – Ayn Rand

Well said!

i think the government has to be big to keep all 50 states working together as one.
there's certainly a lot of money wasted,
but the departments it goes to are mostly justified.

a smaller federal government with less control would mean stronger regional and state control.
which would inevitably lead to the US breaking apart.

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Interesting, considering that a growing federal government and a loss of state rights were some of the causes of the civil war.

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For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.
Thomas Jefferson

That about it sums it up in a nutshell.

true.
but i think America's different today.
the larger and more powerful the federal government is,
the more attractive it becomes to the states.
the feds help fund infrastructure, education, environment cleanup, disaster relief, lots more.
it's a security blanket for the individual states.
once the government becomes less powerful,
the states will have less reason to be in the republic.
an issue would arise (like iraq),
or a charismatic governor would convince his state they'd be better off alone.
and <<poof>>, stars start dropping off the flag.
and given the USs recent stance over taiwan and chechnya, the US would be the laughing stock of the entire planet if we didn't let states seceed.

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