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3.1 percent. And from 1901 till 1930 (including fighting WWI) it never reached 8 percent, and averaged approximately 3.2 percent. During the height of the progressive movement, including FDR's New Deal, federal spending never exceeded the 1934 level of 10.7 percent. And even though as WWII raged and spending shot to 43.6 percent of GDP, four years later it had fallen to 11.6 percent. For 130 years of our existence, federal spending averaged around 2.5 percent of GDP, says Mr. Kalahar. That level of spending was close to what the Founders had in mind for their limited government. But it has grown incrementally, as politicians abandoned constitutional limits and today this statist, socialistic philosophy has moved us toward fiscal collapse. Mr. Kalahar understands what public servants and many, perhaps most, Americans do not: Government spending is taken directly out of the pockets of the people, or out of the economy. Every dollar consumed by our profligate government is one less that could fund productive advancement in the private economy, he wrote. Every dime needlessly spent by government comes at the cost of efficiency in moving scarce resources to their most valuable use. What that means in simple terms is that if left alone, the private economy will most often cruise along comfortably, repair itself when necessary, and the genius of Americans will produce an expanding economy that benefits us all. The just and proper fiscal balance is to give the state what it needs to protect you and your property while at the same time protecting you and your property from the state, he wrote. Looking at the low historical trends that allowed this great nation to lead the world into prosperity would be a good place to start an honest debate in determining federal spending. A good rule of thumb would be to give half of what the politicians ask for. And, as economist Walter Williams reminds us about federal spending, "If 10 percent is good enough for the church, it ought to be good enough for Congress." As we have incrementally increased spending as a percent of GDP, now we must begin to incrementally return to the spending level before 1930.