Though some of the A-Z chapters seem hardly the stuff of National Suicide (K for Katrina Fraud? N for Non-Profits?), the overall message of a government that is too big, out-of-touch, and incredibly wasteful is perfectly clear. Gross clearly identifies many of the problems, and even offers some ideas for reform (some of which have merit, others not as much).

This is a very comprehensive and easy to read analysis of what's wrong with the Federal government (hint: a lot). I don't agree with everything the man writes, but I appreciate his viewpoints. I think he swings too far for my tastes into the anti-environment and racist territory a few times. like about illegal immigrants and oil drilling in Alaska. I initially found these arguments a bit offensive, but they had some persuasion to them and opened my eyes in an interesting way. I love it when that happens. I -love- having my opinions challenged by persuasive argument.

I still think the author of the book is wrong in many ways, but I also think that he's about 70% right, and a good 10-15% of where he is wrong is relatively unimportant details. I wouldn't want him to be my benevolent dictator but I would love to see him in a powerful position in Washington cleaning up that mess. This is the kind of book that makes me want to buy extra copies to give to friends.

The most wonderful thing about it is at the end he lays out specific things to do that would actually fix the federal mess, something I rarely see anyone ever doing, from the mighty politicians to the rabid extreme left and right wingers.