It's ironic that Reagan mentioned a "trillion-dollar debt" in that quote because we've thrown away far more than that on the bailout so far and are on pace to run trillion dollar deficits over the next few years.

We are selling our children into slavery via debt -- to give seniors more comfortable retirements, to hand out goodies to interest groups, and to bail out failing companies.

Worse yet, the majority of our political class in D.C. doesn't seem to care that we're selling our nation's economic birthright for a bowl of porridge.

"It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy...What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage." -- Adam Smith

Because our tax rates are creeping ever higher and the number of regulations on businesses is continuing to expand, American companies are become less competitive with our overseas rivals in an increasingly global world.

There's a right way and a wrong way to handle this.

The right way is to cut taxes, decrease regulations, and work to open up more foreign markets to our goods. This would help keep goods here cheap, help American businesses become more competitive, and help spur job growth.

The wrong way to deal with this problem would be to increase the cost of foreign goods through trade barriers in order to keep them uncompetitive with American products. That would make goods we buy more expensive, make it more difficult for American companies to compete globally, and slow job growth.

For the United States to remain an economic super power, we need to have competitive businesses that employ productive workers. The American people have proven up to the task for over 200 years and will remain so as long as the government doesn't get in our way.