Waffler. When Jefferson said this, he was not reffering to the number of people the government employed or the amount of money handled(Which is far more than any company in the world.) He was talking about the umbrella of government influence. He believed, as many people today do, that our government should infringe on the people the least amount possible without jepordizing the "inalienable rights of man". To compare the federal government to any company is naive. As Tommy J says, government is force. No company can tell me what to drive or how much to pay for energy and by Thomas Jefferson himself, government should never have that ability either.