Pleasant Dreams

As I'm about to turn in for the night, I'll allow a delightful, wistful item from Radley Balko float through my mind as my head hits the pillow and I drift into sleep. It's a list of questions he would like to ask presidential candidates at debates. Here are my faves:

— A recent study found that over half the country now derives part or all of its income from the federal government. Three of the richest counties in the country are in the D.C. suburbs, a telling indicator of just how bloated with taxpayer dollars Washington has become. Do you think these trends are healthy? Would you agree or disagree that the federal government is getting too large, too influential, and too pervasive?

—Name five government agencies that are either superfluous, anachronistic, ineffective, or otherwise no longer necessary, and that you would eliminate? To make things interesting, let's take everything under the Department of Defense
off the table, with the acknowledgment that there's plenty of cutting to be done there, too.

—The U.S. currently has troops on 6,000 bases spread out over 135 countries. Do you believe this is a good or bad thing? If bad, from what countries would you remove U.S. troops?

I'm picturing stunned faces, immediate evasive maneuvers, and snickers at the squirming power-seekers from across the USA. Ah- sweet, sweet dreams...