There is a revolution going on in our country. It’s not a new struggle but it should now be clear for all to see. The question posed by this revolution is just who can best provide for the needs of our citizens – the government or private industry?

For nearly 200 years the needs of this country were met successfully by the private sector and our economy flourished. In fact our standard of living became the envy of the developed world. Government did not build the railroads, private industry did. Government did not develop our natural resources, private industry did. Government did not develop the auto industry, airplane, telecommunications, health care or computer industries. The private sector did. Sure there were abuses often caused by excessive greed that ultimately created disruptions and economic conflict. In every case free market competition has worked to remedy these issues. In fact many conservatives believe that government interference at critical times has often exacerbated the problems.

Just what has government produced? Amtrack, the US Postal Service, Social Security, Medicare, the IRS, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, and public education. Many of these are noble efforts filled mostly with well meaning people who also want to succeed in making our country better. But unfortunately, government efforts suffer from a number of fatal flaws that ultimately prevent it from adjusting to customer needs.

First, government programs have no competition. In fact, government programs are often developed because “no one else can do this job effectively,” or “it’s too important to let it fail.” And once government programs become established invariably they need to eliminate any real competition in order to continue to implement their flawed business model.

Second, government programs have too many managers. Politicians cannot resist the opportunity to over control the efforts of these agencies. The result is an endless set of new laws regulating the efforts of the agencies, and hearings that distract the managers from the day to day management. Every decision they make is a political one and as a result every complaint needs to be endlessly reviewed and dissected. The result is more cumbersome rules for operations that frustrate customers and balloon operating costs for little or no increase in efficiency.

Which brings us to my final point regarding government inefficiency. Because of the huge political pressure, agency managers have developed a job preservation system that protects them from their own missteps. When was the last time you heard of a government bureaucrat losing their job because their agency failed to accomplish its purpose? Think I’m wrong? Just consider the most recent case of failure to regulate by the SEC. The Bernie Madoff scandal has been all over the news. There is no doubt that Madoff’s fraudulent schemes robbed many people of their life savings and cost a number of institutions and foundations to lose their entire portfolio. But Madoff’s scheme went on for years despite questions from many in the financial community. Why did no one at the Securities and Exchange Commission see this for the fraud that it was? And why did no one at the SEC lose their job for failing to identify this scam?

Now our President and his Democrat partners in Congress are bound to change our economic system in order to control and even larger part of our economy. They have already taken over one American car company, a number of banks and have most recently set their sites on the entire health care industry. Obama has promised to bankrupt the coal industry with no real viable option to replace it. The result – the market value of most private American companies has plummeted to levels that have not been seen in decades, virtually eliminating the retirement savings of hundreds of Americans. While Obama supporters want to blame all of this on the Bush administration those who truly understand market economics know investors make their decisions on what they believe is going to happen, not on what has occurred in the past.

The second American revolution has begun. Those that call themselves progressives want us to believe that they have a new and better vision for our country. But their ideas and their vision are not new. It has been tested in democracies like Germany, France and England where the many of the citizens are now trying to find ways to reduce the influence of government on their lives. Their vision has also been tested in a number of dictatorships like Cuba, Russia and Venezuela. These countries have been successful at improving the wealth of the ruling class but have failed their citizens miserably.

If you do not want our country to become another statistic in the history of previously successful countries, it is time to get active. Call or write our representatives. Tell them to defeat the Cap and Trade legislation, the President’s Health Care initiative and all of the efforts to place more programs under the scrutiny of some government approved “Czar.” After all, this is America let’s not make Nikita Khrushchev’s promise come true.

Want to fight back? Here’s a list of your representatives and how to contact them:

Doc Hastings – Washington, D.C. Office, 1203 Longworth, House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, (202) 225-5816, Fax: (202) 225-3251, hastings.house.gov/

Cathy McMorris Rogers – Washington, D.C. Office, 1323 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515, phone: 202-225-2006, fax: 202-225-3392, mcmorris.house.gov/

US Senator Maria Cantwell – WASHINGTON, DC, 511 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-3441, 202-228-0514 – FAX, cantwell.senate.gov/

US Senator Patty Murray – Washington, D.C. Office, 173 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, Phone: (202) 224-2621, Fax: (202) 224-0238, Toll Free: (866) 481-9186, murray.senate.gov/contact/