If you watched the news recently, you probably noticed that some government employees have been pushing for some very radical regulations. A few weeks ago, the Labor Department attempted to prevent children from working on family farms. For thousands of years, children have learned farming from their parents and grandparents. They often start out feeding chickens and graduate to milking cows. Before you know it, they're grown-up and full fledged farmers. We need a strong and sound farm community to grow the food required to feed our nation. The farming family is the cornerstone in our food production.

For the government to prevent children from working on the family farm is an intrusion on the rights of parents. Assisting on the family farm helps teach children to be responsible and encourages a strong work ethic. Obviously the bureaucrats in Washington have not worked on a farm nor do they understand the economics of the family-owned farming enterprise. Instead of preventing children from working in the family business, they should be capturing and deporting illegal aliens working unlawfully in this country.In another incident, an EPA administrator publicly stated that the EPA should crucify oil companies to set an example. This would enable government control of the energy industry. The administrator has now resigned however the damage has been done. Many Americans on the right side of the political spectrum already knew that the Obama administration was going after "big oil". Now the American public also knows this. For the last three years President Obama and his minions have done everything in their power to stop America from exploiting our own petroleum-based resources. They also canceled pipelines to bring lower-cost Canadian oil to the American market. These measures have artificially increased the cost of oil and more importantly gasoline. Higher gas prices are hitting commuters hard. This in turn prolongs the recovery as the increased cost of fuel prevents Americans from purchasing other goods and services.Some in the administration are touting the slight decline in the price of gasoline as an Obama victory. Let's get real! They more than doubled the price of gasoline and now they reduce the price by 5 percent and they claim to be heroes. We The People are not stupid. We know what is going on. President Obama is crippling the American oil industry so that he can reward his friends in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. By preventing competition from less expensive North American petroleum products, the President is hurting American families. His administration is prolonging the recession by delaying the issuance of new drilling permits. Without permits, oil drillers cannot hire new oil field and pipeline workers. These are good jobs that pay well. Our unemployed need these jobs to support themselves and their families.The $64,000 question is whether Obama is doing this himself or is it the work of left-wing radical bureaucrats in control of federal departments and agencies? I believe that the President may set the direction but it is the bureaucrats who are creating new regulations to prevent the growth of existing businesses and inhibit new business formation. If people have jobs and can support their families on their own then they do not need the government and its army of bureaucrats. If they're unemployed and hungry, then these bureaucrats can stand on a pedestal and dole out tidbits to the masses. I believe that it is the bureaucrats and not the congress that is in control of our government and a large chuck of our economy.Most government workers I know are dedicated to the job and have no desire to impose their will upon our nation. My comments are directed at those bureaucrats who use their positions of power to implement their private agendas. By attempting to prevent children from working on farms, chastising the oil companies or rewarding left-wing socialists, these bureaucrats have gone too far. The American people woke up. In the last two weeks, they sent hundreds of thousands of letters and emails to their congressman concerning both the family farm and the crucifixion issue. As a result, these measures were rescinded.I believe that We The People must convince our congressmen and women that it is time to cut the red tape. We should get rid of the regulatory burden that cripples small business. Instead of passing new regulations, we should put the emphasis on deregulation. Then we must convince our congressmen to purge the government ranks of left-wing radicals who use bureaucracy to implement socialism when attempts to legislate the socialist agenda fail. We must decimate the bureaucracy, starting with those high level administrators and managers who believe they can rule us. They are civil servants and their full time job is to serve the American people. It is not We The People who must serve them. These arrogant administrators need to get out of government. I'm sure that the "Friends of Obama" will find them well paying jobs to reward them for their disservice to the American people.Once the arrogant bureaucrats are gone, we should downsize the government by at least 20 percent. In the private sector many organizations are evaluating each job to see if it is required. Those jobs that are deemed unnecessary are eliminated. Then they analyze the existing staff to identify their underperformers. The underperformers are put on notice to improve. If they don't, they are dismissed. At some organizations, employees must reapply for their jobs. If they fail the interview process, they are let go. The government should embrace this process so that the dead wood can be culled from the civil service before it starts a forest fire and destroys our economy.By eliminating the underperformers other employees can do their jobs more effectively and more efficiently. If additional staff are needed, then the government can take advantage of the current high unemployment rate to hire new, motivated staff to fill the vacancies.Once this is done, we need to implement a government-wide campaign to seek out and destroy useless laws and regulations. Here are just two of the stupid laws on the books in Pennsylvania:• "Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue".• "Any motorist who sights a team of horses coming toward him must pull well off the road, cover his car with a blanket or canvas that blends with the countryside, and let the horses pass".Clearly these rules should be wiped off the books. I'm sure there are thousands of other laws, rules and regulations that should also be eliminated. As needless rules and regulations are eliminated, then the regulatory burden on businesses will decrease. This will lower the cost of doing business and enable some companies to expand.I am thankful for the rants of the bureaucrats mentioned above. They serve to demonstrate the arrogance of some of the bureaucrats in the federal civil service. It is important to remember that these bad apples are in the minority. Most of the federal civil servants I know are dedicated to serving the people. They work long hours for lower pay than they could get in the private sector. Once the bad apples are gone, these dedicated workers will be able to get more real work done. This will enable We The People to get more value from our tax dollars. Get rid of the socialists in government! Get rid of the dead wood! Reenergize the federal work force! Hire motivated workers to perform needed functions! This sounds to me to be a good platform for a candidate in the upcoming elections. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them have the courage to attack the issues I've identified.© 2012 Gordon Smith - All Rights Reserved