If there’s one theme about government that sticks in my mind, it’s what someone who took part in the American Revolution would think if we could transport them to the present. I have to wonder what they would think about the Windham Town Council attempting to ban fireworks, the State of Maine Legislature legislating more and more of our lives or the President and Congress of the United States forcing us to pay for ObamaCare. The government nannies at all levels either further restrict our freedoms or cost us more each and every time they meet.

Government has forgotten that it is the servant and it’s high time for government to remember what it is elected to do for us, not to us. Quite frankly, at present government is getting the gold mine and we are getting the shaft.

Recently one of my wife’s friends sent her an email with a link to the Government Gone Wild website and the video that I watched was amazing because it shows how ignorant most Americans are when it comes to how government is helping itself before it helps us. The number of government employees increased 15 percent during the recent recession while private employment dropped dramatically. Not only are there more government employees, there are more government workers making more than $100,000 and this also happened during the recession. Government salaries and benefits have increased at such a rate that they are now on average double that of private enterprise. And the list goes on. I highly suggest going to governmentgonewild.org and watching some of the videos there.

I look at our nation’s capital with disgust and disbelief. Washington has become a cesspool of government opulence with a total disregard for our Constitution which formed this once great nation. The United States is no longer No. 1 in education or standard of living. Although Obama touts he has created many new jobs, those jobs are in government which is becoming more of a burden upon every citizen in America. One only has to look at the Occupy movement to see what direction the liberals and socialists want America to go. It is nothing less than the strategy of robbing Peter to pay Paul and no one will complain except Paul. You can bet when Paul runs out of money, Peter will be the next one to get robbed and one can also bet Peter will finally complain.

It’s all hard to believe that there is a government employee for every 13.5 Americans. This figure includes federal, state and local government employees. Couple that with those who receive a government subsidy whether it’s welfare or food stamps (now called SNAP – Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) and soon there will be more voters to raid the government coffers than voters who pay taxes. That’s the point at which the government system as we know it will collapse, as it well should.

I normally don’t close this column with a quote but this one is an exception. This comes from an email from a friend who believes as I do that government is too large and too much of a burden. “The current Occupy Wall Street movement is the best illustration to date of what President Barack Obama’s America looks like. It is an America where the lawless, unaccomplished, ignorant and incompetent rule. It is an America where those who have sacrificed nothing pillage and destroy the lives of those who have sacrificed greatly.” This quote comes from Dr. Thomas Sewell, an eminent black economist and columnist.

Lane Hiltunen, of Windham, believes government is the fox in charge of the hen house.