The voters want change - again.
Democrat Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008 on a promise of change from what he characterized as "failed Republican policies."
Republicans on Tuesday regained control of the U.S. House and cut into the Democratic Senate majority by promising change. The GOP rallying cry was Democrats hadn't delivered change - i.e. the economy - or had made unpopular changes - i.e. health care.
And riding the crest of the Republican wave are representatives of the tea party, a populist, conservative/libertarian movement that represents change from both major parties.
Which raises the question: Are voters too impatient or are the people we elect either co-opted or paralyzed by a powerful, consuming, immovable federal bureaucracy?
The answer may be all of the above, with the bureaucracy being the greatest obstacle.
The federal bureaucracy is not nimble.
We believe - based on our reading of history - our founders intended a leaner federal government focused on issues of national scope, while leaving much governing to individual states.
Our belief is based on the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment, which reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution ... are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
The federal government has grown to gargantuan proportions since the Bill of Rights was introduced in 1789.
The bureaucracy is a jobs program for career politicians, lobbyists and interest groups. It feeds insatiably on tax dollars and rewards the public with largesse in the form of social programs, grants and earmarks that could be financed and operated more efficiently at the local level.
We are not suggesting it be dismantled, but we - and apparently many voters - suggest it be trimmed to a more responsible, responsive, cost-effective operation. Reducing a bloated federal government will be neither quick nor easy. The voters have signaled they want change. Now they must insist on it.