How to Reduce the Size of Government

From Daily Kos

by kmiddle
Thu Jun 29, 2006 at 10:09:53 AM PDT

Government spending is out of control. On the Federal level, it's easy to just borrow more money (thanks China). But states have a tougher time; they can't just keeping the mint working overtime. And so the total tax burden continues to be near all-time highs for the average working family.

I have identified the reason behind this problem: Too many politicians.

All those governors, Speakers of the House, State Senators and Representatives, elbowing each other for position and voter attention. And they all feel the need to "do something" for their constituents, which almost always translates into "take money out of my wallet for something I don't need." Not to mention 50 state Attorney Generals, Secretary of States, Treasurers, etc. etc. etc. All full-time jobs, with their own staffs, security details, offices, lights, phones, computers...waste, waste, waste, I say.

* kmiddle's diary :: ::
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So here's my modest proposal - one that will instantly reduce the size of government and reign in uncontrolled spending. Reduce the number of states from 50 to 10.

The current political borders for the states are historical artifacts that have no relevance to today's modern society. Can anyone living in Rhode Island honestly describe the major social and political issues that separate them from Connecticut? Hell, in Rhode Island, you have to go to another state to get to the Super Walmart.

Any state that has a geographic description in its name (eg, North, South) has obviously been begging for consolidation since its inception. Otherwise, they'd have had the good sense to pick a real name. And what's with this whole Arkansas/Kansas thing? Did Arkansas just want to get its Yellow Pages listing ahead of Kansas? Why not AAAArKansas instead?

Here are just a few benefits of cutting the number of states down to 10:
* An 80% reduction in the number of politicians who feed at the state government trough. Only 10 governors, etc. Think of the salaries saved! That alone should be enough to reduce taxes by 10%.
* An 80% reduction in the potential for mischief. Along with an 80% reduction in the number of people we Kossacks need to watch like hawks.
* An 80% reduction in the number of US Senators (only 20 instead of 100). Who can possibly argue that fewer US Senators is a bad thing?
* Better overall quality of politicians. Right now, for every John Murtha, there's a Bob Ney, a Jean (not so)Smart, and a Katherine Harris. If there are fewer jobs to chase, the most qualified people might actually have a shot at displacing the knuckleheads. (I know this is a bad example, because the US House is based on population; but having fewer state political offices will force politicians to look elsewhere for work. It's a "trickle up" theory.)
* School children would be freed from mindless memorization of state capitals and be able to concentrate on important stuff. Social studies teachers might actually be able to teach things like - horrors!!! - the Constitution.

Here are my recommendations for the new 10 United States of America;
* Rockysnowland: Combine Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Except for the upstate of Maine and Buffalo, they're all about an hour's drive from each other, and their regional issues are pretty much the same. Which is to say how shovel all that snow and how to farm around all those darned rocks.
* Delavanialand: Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Back in the 1700s, New Jersey was hard to get to from Pennsylvania because of the Delaware River. Now we have things called "bridges." And what in the heck is Delaware doing hogging all the coastline from Maryland? Ridiculous. Combine them all.
* Minneconsin: Minnesota and Wisconsin. Cheese for everyone!!! Ice sculptures, too.
* Michohnoisy: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, along with Kentucky. Michigan has to give up the noncontiguous portion to Minneconsin. It's mostly the old Northwest Territory, with Kentucky thrown in for good measure. As it is, the only reason Indiana exists is to prevent Ohio and Illinois from bumping into each other. So why not combine them all?
* NASCARalia: Alabama, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Yes, West Virginia, I realize you separated from Virginia during the Civil War. Get over it. War's over.
* Texarkanianohoma: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas,. Alternative name: Tornadoania.
* Cornsas: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
* Idakota: Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming.
* Colozonah: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
* Oceania: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington.