Governments do free public libraries better than private corporations do, for one.

I think that government is a necessary check, sometimes, on the "profit is everything" motive. Having the people regulated write the regulations (as G.W.Bush did in Texas) is irresponsible. Modern corporations recognize only their responsibility to the stockholders. The other "stakeholders" (employees and the community) are usually only given consideration because of government regulation or incentives.

I was watching a show on FDR the other night, and it seems to me that the modern Republican party is doing it's level best to reverse the entire New Deal. The stock market instead of Social Security? That's what worked so well in the nineteen twenties, isn't it? Before the New Deal, government didn't provide any kind of safety nets. It was all private charity and people starved.

Government needs to be large enough to cope with the size of the population it governs. It needs to be large enough to provide services to the people who need services. I wouldn't mind seeing more accountable government -- who spent what where -- but downsizing government leaves necessary programs underfunded or staffed by overworked burnout cases.

Ahh... gotta get off my soapbox and go to work...