I have been a beliver in a Federal Government, but only in the way our founders believed in that concept (those like Washington and Hamilton who were proponents).
What we see now in Washington is what our founders feared. What we see is a monstrosity, inhabited by people who are mostly (but not all) leeches who see government as their meal ticket for as long as they can carry on successful political campaigns.
The fix, I think, without civil war, is first giving state’s rights back to the states, and secondly, weaning states off of money such as the federal highway funds, which are used as a behavioral lever by the goverment...if you do this in your schools, outlaw this behavior and do something else, you will be sure to get your slice of the federal pie (highway funds, etc)
The states, red and blue, seem to have a very hard time saying “no, thanks” to the federal government dollars, no matter what they have to do for them.