Is government too small, too large, or about the right size?

I have always been interested in both economics and politics. I would like to get everyone's opinions on the size of the government of The United States.

I am looking at government spending as a percentage of GDP. In simple terms, I am looking at what percent of all money spent in The United States is spent by the government (Federal, State, and Local governments all combined.)

According to my research:
In 1920 government spending was 12 percent of GDP
In 1947 (After WWII) government spending rose to 22 percent of GDP
Today government spending is about 40 percent of GDP (I found government
statistics range from 36 percent to 43 percent!)

As a note of comparison the German government, a socialist government, spends about 51% of its total GDP.

Do you think the government is too large, too small, or about the right size? Please post your comments. I think this could be an interesting discussion.

I graduated from Snider High School in 1985. If I would have been asked this question in 1985 I would have said that the government was about the right size. Today I feel much differently, I think the government is too large. I think the government should spend about 25% of GDP.

What do you think?

From a political standpoint both The Democratic and Republican parties are increasing government spending at every level each year. They are both passing legislation that favors larger government. Libertarians believe the government should be smaller.