Have you ever tried to talk to a real person at the IRS? What about the State Department, the Department of Justice, or any other massive federal agency?
If you have, you probably had the same experience as Rita Peters, the National Legislative Strategist for the Convention of States Project.
In an awesome new article on The Stream, Peters tells the story of how her family vacation was nearly ruined because she couldn't get in touch with someone at the National Passport Information Center. She had applied for a passport for her daughter well in advance of her trip, but only days before their departure, they hadn't receive it.
When she finally was able to speak with a real person, the conversation wasn't encouraging:
No one (not even the experts at the National Passport Information Center) can call the office in New Hampshire where my passport is actually being processed. Don’t ask why it was sent there when we live in Virginia, a two-hour drive from D.C. All this public servant can tell me is what has been entered into the “database.” And there’s not a whole lot to go on.
He can tell me, however, that it won’t help me to go to the D.C. office in person, because they have no appointments available. And even if I could get one, it wouldn’t help, because all the documents are in New Hampshire.
Eventually, Peters called her congressman, and his office was able to get through to someone at the New Hampshire passport office. That person expedited the process, and Peters' daughter had her passport hours before they had to leave.
Peters tells this story to illustrate one simple truth: the federal government can't be large and competent at the same time. Washington, D.C., tries to control every area of our lives, but the country is just too big. They can't be competent at the areas they should be (like issuing passports) because they're busy dealing with community living, arthritis, adult education, and parenting (to name just a few of the topics with a dedicated federal agency).
Maybe, as Peters suggests, the federal government should focus on those things justified by the Constitution--and leave the rest to the American people.
Even if you aren’t keen on politics or public policy, you should care about keeping our national government focused on the jobs it has legitimate power to do. Because a government that thinks it can be all things to all people is not only dangerous — it’s bound to be incompetent.
Even if I didn’t care a lick about the Constitution, I’d rather have a government that is competent in the things we actually need it to do and gave it power to do (like issuing passports), than one that does those things poorly because it is busy doing a host of things it has no business doing (like teaching parenting skills).
We couldn't have said it better. If you want to join the only grassroots movement powerful enough to shrink the size, scope, and jurisdiction of the federal government, sign the petition below!
When you sign, we'll send a copy to your state legislator asking them to support the Convention of States movement. An Article V Convention of States is called and controlled by the states and has the power to propose constitutional amendments that shrink the federal government, impose term limits on federal officials, and force Congress to be fiscally responsible.
It's time we had a competent federal government that stays within its constitutional limitations. If you agree, sign the petition below!
