Not a bad idea but I think that simplification and elimination would be the best way to reform things.

Simplify the necessary federal agencies by pruning the massive federal code and eliminate the unnecessary agencies.

Of course neither of our ideas has a snowball's chance in...

You might want to check outWhite Collarfrom the USA Network.  Somewhat formulaic but has really likeable characters. Structured like Burn Notice but totally different premise.

Until the GOP-controlled House proposes real cuts to the budget of the IRS, EPA and countless other federal agencies limited government is a pipe dream.

Who is Dallin Oaks?  Well, his many accomplishments include;

• Law professor at the University of Chicago Law school
• President of Brigham Young University, the largest private university in the US
• A justice of the Utah Supreme Court
• A member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the LDS church

In addition, he has written and spoken extensively about the importance of freedom of religion in our society, which is why the Becket Fund was honoring him.

He's a good man.

Many say that the Fair(sales) tax would eliminate the need for the IRS.  While we would still need someone to collect the Fair Tax, at least it would eliminate the need for the IRS to process applications for tax exempt status, which would eliminate the political shenanigans we are now seeing.

Just as I don't look to pundits like Rush Limbaugh to be any sort of spiritual or moral leader, I don't look to religious leaders like the Pope or even those in my own church to be economic leaders.

That being said, someone should tell Pope Francis that the economic disparity he has witnessed is a result of the absence of free-market capitalism, not too much of it.

You know you're in a socialist country when ________________."

...you elect Barak friggin' Obama to a second term

We live in a deeply corrupt society.  Corruption occurs when people act as if the law does not apply to them.  We see it in business, academia, churches and local government - as well as Washington DC.  A virtuous people would not elect someone like Obama and his band of grim leftist thugs. 

We are simply reaping what we have sown.  To expect otherwise is naivety squared.

Tiny heads?

Neither this guy nor that monster from Cleveland should draw another breath once their trial is over.

The fact that scumbags like these guys stick around in an endless cycle of appeals speaks to the weakness of our society, not its enlightenment.

Once again we see that government is a fire which will burn out of control if it is not watched very closely and kept to an absolute minimum.  How our fellow citizens can think of govt as some sort of benign presence in their lives is beyond me.

Most of these same citizens voted to increase the power of the IRS via Obamacare by voting for Obama and various Dem senators and reps.  This total disconnect between perception and reality for most of the voting populace is why I despair for the future of our Republic.

The government is NOT your friend, people! 

Good for you, EJ.  Like the plot of a bad movie, it will be easy enough for you to pick up on where the country is headed when you come back (you can probably guess the direction right now, in fact).

The Law of unintended consequences works against our side as well as theirs, doesn't it.

There's no doubt that the MN GOP is not a well organized bunch, which is a shame.  Truly shrewd GOP leadership could tap into the socially conservative iron range Democrats for support if they weren't so ham-fisted.

Chris Christie can lose to Hillary as well as the next Republican.

Hey, what's the problem?  Didn't we sell the Chicoms this satellite technology anyway during the Clinton administration?  So we're really just using our own technology - no biggie.

The irony is that the attempt to pass an amendment to the MN constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman last November probably ended up causing the passage of this law yesterday, as well as several other bad laws coming out of this legislature.

The reason being that many voters came to the polls to vote against the marriage amendment - people who normally wouldn't vote - and of course they nearly all voted Democrat which allowed the Democrats to take control of the MN legislature.  I don't have the stats to back up my contention but it appears to be the case based on what I saw last November.

The result is what I call "Democrats gone wild" which means that the Dems are passing every liberal bad idea they can including legalizing same sex marriage, jacking up taxes and the minimum wage and several other nefarious bills.

My only hope is that this creates a negative backlash and the voters throw the Dems out in 2014.  Even if this happens, though, the damage will have been done in many areas and our state will be weaker.

A sad day for Minnesota.