Over the past year, I have traveled all across the commonwealth listening to the concerns of hardworking Pennsylvanians - workers, small business owners, entrepreneurs - and the message is too often the same: Government is getting in our way.

Today, excessive government regulations are making it difficult and more expensive for employers to hire and create jobs. Federal red tape is imposing burdensome, unfunded mandates on local cities, townships and counties. Small businesses and farmers are struggling to comply with new directives from overreaching agencies. Government waste, fraud and abuse continue eating up taxpayer dollars at a time when many households are watching every penny they spend. This is not how government is meant to work.

You've have had enough, and so have I.

All Pennsylvanians want is better, more sensible, more efficient government, not more government. Is that really too much to ask?

I don't think so.

That is why I have recently launched a public service campaign called "Had Enough?" to help Pennsylvanians find solutions to government excess and overregulation. Through my "Had Enough?" website, you can submit details of your experiences with unreasonable red tape and government excess. My staff and I will be monitoring the submissions and working hard to find solutions to make the federal government work more effectively.

Let me give you an example of the kind of excessive regulation Pennsylvanians are struggling with and the kind of solutions we can find. Earlier this year, officials in Southeastern Pennsylvania's Lower Merion Township and Scranton alerted me to a Transportation Department mandate that would soon require all municipalities to replace current street signs with new signs that meet federally approved reflectivity standards.

The mandate would force communities across the country to spend local taxpayer dollars to replace their existing, perfectly adequate, street signs. This could have cost some townships over a million dollars. How many cities and towns are sitting on excess cash in their budgets? I don't know of any. Already strapped for cash, many officials said they simply could not afford this new expense without making cuts to other vital communal services or raising property taxes.

In addition, some communities, such as Lower Merion, would be forced to replace historically significant signs that have become a part of their local culture.

In response, I sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood requesting an exemption, and he announced in late August that the department would eliminate the street sign replacement deadline.

This isn't the only example of how we've been able to find solutions for government overreach and red tape. In Western Pennsylvania, my staff helped Grove City College secure an exemption from new U.S. Education Department rules that would have made Grove City College students ineligible for scholarships and state aid. And in Delaware County, I was able to secure a waiver for liquefied natural gas tankers so that a new project in Marcus Hook can begin and create hundreds of jobs.

Every day, Americans are struggling with new mandates that make it more difficult for them to run their businesses, hire new workers, and simply make a living for their families. Often, government officials back in Washington don't realize how burdensome these regulations can be for folks on a daily basis.

But that doesn't mean we should just give up. My staff and I are committed to taking your stories and your struggles to the appropriate officials and agencies in Washington and finding the solutions you deserve.

I encourage you to visit my website at www.toomey.senate.gov/hadenough and submit your experiences with overregulation and red tape. It's time to send a message to Washington that Pennsylvanians have had enough.