The role of the federal government should be minimal in most people’s lives. Residents of north Alabama should be more concerned about who is on the city or county commission than who are their state and federal representatives. It is a failure that the federal government has become so large and so meddlesome in peoples lives.

The one place I would like to increase spending is for the investigation of fraud. A 2003 study estimates that social security lost $105 million just from people collecting two checks instead of one. (freerepublic.com) 
       
There are many large government programs that need attention. As two examples consider the ‘war on poverty’ and the ‘war on drugs’. Both of which have been waged for decades. The result is poor families are, if anything, worse off. A significant side effect of welfare has been the ruination of poor families.

After decades of fighting illegal drugs the amount of drugs in the country is higher. The only real result is millions of people put into jail and numerous deaths. I cannot count these as good things. There is no reason to just let disastrous programs continue to run unabated at the cost of billions of dollars and multiple deaths.