Our congressmen and congresswomen do not need to be paid almost 200,000 per year. They don’t earn and deserve these salaries. They need to spend 3/4 per year at home working on their full time jobs and 1/4 in Washington, D. C. legislating stuff and approving budgets.

How much time did the members of the few few Congress’s spend in WDC per year?

The Dirty Little Secret of the Jefferson Administration is that he nearly caused the defeat of the United States in the War of 1812 due to neglect of naval defenses. He squandered vast sums on coastal defense gunboats known to be useless, instead of buying proper warships. When the war started, the Royal Navy swept the gunboats aside – while the handful of frigates built by the Adams adminstation gave the British fits.

It was a matter of political dogma – and to the Democrats, domestic political dogma is more important than sound security strategy.

As to disestablishing the State Department, I support it – but then, I support a radical restructuring of the Executive Branch. Cut the number of cabinet offices to ~10.

I don’t think the State Department will ever be abolished. It has been around forever.

I read that the US has known about this for some time. In fact Obama found out during the campaign. That means that when he accused Bush of fearmongering Iran, he knew about this secret facility.

That State Department must be abolished, and all of its employees released to private employment, without regard for previous service. (too hard to sort the good from the bad, and the great majority are bad) Give them a lifelong pension equal to their last year’s salary so they won’t suffer financially – but get rid of them.

In the short run, the Pentagon can take over whatever necessary duties that State was providing – they already are parralel in almost every way. In the long run, perhaps some reformed version of it could be rebuilt – but the current version is incapable of reform.

State must go.