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Various quotes come to mind.

The original Contract with America - The U.S. Constitution
(I'm going to put this back in my tagline again)

Taken seriously, the Constitution would pose a serious threat to our current form of government.

"Already the hour is late. Government has laid its hand on health, housing, farming, industry, commerce, education, and to an ever-increasing degree interferes with the people's right to know. ... We approach the point of no return when government becomes so huge and entrenched that we fear the consequences of upheaval and just go along with it." -- Ronald Reagan

Government is not the doctor. It is the disease.

What do we do when the trial lawyers and socialists succeed in draining the life from the American entreprenuer? What's next? What is the next move? What will sustain the leeches, ticks and looters at this point? 8/25/02

For those who marvel at our ability to stagger from crisis to crisis without experiencing a disaster and think we can continue indefinitely to overload our economic and social system with laws of plunder and legislative nonsense, I will remind you that the man who is guillotined is breathing right up to the moment the blade hits his neck. -John Galt

Great Post.
The problem now is that so many people have become attached to their federal benefit and reform would take away that benefit. Examples:

1) Farmers have an entire department of the government in which every farmer practically has his own DOA rep.
2) The Department of Commerce has corporate pork programs designed to help US businesses export to overseas markets. Many of these programs have little or no impact on those markets and are just corporate port.
3) Tax policies like the like deducting for charitable donations and home interest payments cause overall tax rates to be higher. Try to change those rules and charities and the Real Estate industry would be in revolt.
4) Procurement programs require Buy America, Minority Businesses and Union wage minimums (Davis-Bacon/Service Contract Act), that causes government purchases to be more costly.
5) Medicare and Medicaid are designed as benefits to the elderly and poor with disincentives to keep costs down. Better go to catastrophic protection and HSAs.

6) Social Security is in dire need to reform. Details too extensive to outline. Government dependency on these programs fosters an environment of dependency.

National Defense, Environmental protection, Airline safety, Nuke plant security and a few other areas are within the natural area of responsibility for the federal government. Many others can be eliminated.