>>>>>a bloated behemoth of a government that is quickly growing at an unsustainable rate
>>>
>>>In fact, federal employment, after spiking in the run-up to the census in 2010-2011, has been declining fairly rapidly.
>>>
>>>Total government employment- federal state and local has been in free-fall since the recession began.
>>>The city of Trenton had to lay off almost half of its police force because of drastic reductions in state aid and the crime rate has gone through the roof.
>>
>>I should have been more clear - I wasn't specifically referring to employment, but cost. We have a federal deficit that is growing nearly explosively (I started to say exponentially but I'm no math guy LOL). It is a shame about state aid, but much of the problems at the state and local level are due to unfunded Federal mandates. It is a hydra that is consuming our country - or at least its economy and, based on the vitriol exhibited, much of its civility.
>>
>>Myself included.
>
>>>much of its civility
>
>Agreed, Phil.
>JFK often said that in politics we don't have friends and enemies- we have allies and opponents, and an opponent on one issue can be an ally on the next.
>We have to get back to that thinking.
I wish we had another JFK. The country really changed that day in Dallas.
This is long but worth watching --
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/BWC7I4C9QUmLG9J6I8oy8w.aspxMy favorite part of the speech was IMO the best thing he ever said, ahead of Ich bin ein Berliner or ask not what you can do for your country. "We all share this small this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal." June 1963. That kind of eloquence does not currently exist in American politics on either side of the aisle.
UPDATE: Jackie Kennedy was a big part of the story. She was as star studded as her husband. JFK, who had a sense of humor, once said to an audience in Berlin, "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Berlin."
When the shots were fired into the limo she knew her husband was dead and GTFO of there, climbing over the rear hood. And she refused to change her blood stained dress.
