America’s experiment in self-government began 250 years ago with the deliberate and inspired design of men who understood the promise and peril of human nature. The Founders of our republic were everything except professional politicians. They were statesmen, part-time legislators, and full-time patriots who risked everything to reject the tyranny of a distant king.

Our forefathers knew that unchecked power corrupts and that freedom requires limits and balance. The Constitution they created was designed to protect liberty from the two great dangers of mob rule and government overreach. It established a system of divided powers, where no single branch could dominate and where the federal government’s authority was carefully limited.

For much of our nation’s early history, that framework worked as intended. The federal government remained relatively small and focused on its core responsibilities. The states handled most of the governing, and citizens were free to build, create and innovate. In that environment, America flourished.

However, over the last century, that vision has eroded. Washington has grown into something far beyond what the Founders imagined. What began as a government designed to serve the people has evolved into a vast, unaccountable bureaucracy that seeks to manage every aspect of their lives. Federal agencies now write rules that carry the force of law without ever being approved by Congress. Tens of thousands of regulations are created by people who have never been elected and answer to no one.

The result is a government that is too large, too costly, and too distant from the people it claims to represent. We are governed today by career politicians who spend their days worrying about the next election instead of the next generation.

We can no longer afford the government we have built.

The national debt has surpassed $38 trillion and continues to grow at an alarming rate. Interest payments on that debt are one of the largest items in the federal budget, now exceeding what we spend on the military, education or infrastructure.

It is time to stop this madness. It is time to devolve government.  Yes, that means a smaller federal government with a much smaller bureaucracy, focused on the specific things outlined in the Constitution. The laws and regulations are a product of our elected officials, not the bureaucracy. It means restoring the balance between local control and federal authority. It means recognizing that the solutions to our problems will not come from Washington but from Main Street.

The Founders intended a limited national government, focused on defense, diplomacy and protecting individual liberty. Everything else was to be left to the people and their local representatives. That model worked for generations, and it can work again.

We need leaders who will be honest about our financial reality, who will stop pretending that endless borrowing can continue forever, and who will have the courage to tell Americans what we can and cannot afford. We need statesmen, not salesmen.

The Founders gave us the blueprint for liberty. We must now find the courage to use it.

Les Rubin is the founder and president of Main Street Economics/InsideSources