Brake Pedal Return and Brake Lights.

I've got this problem on two of my cars as well. The mechanic my Grandmother took the car to way back when, his solution was to cut off the bracket for the brake light switch and clamp the switch closer to the pedal with ViseGrips. My blue Valiant just started doing this.

Is this a wear problem that happens over time, or something that happens all of a sudden? The brake pedal seems to be in the correct position but there's a good two inches it will move up before it contacts the switch. How can that much space just happen all of a sudden?

Soren if you figure this out I'd love to know how you did it.