Let's recall that we responded to events back then with fundamental changes in how we viewed government. It became less what the founders of the nation intended it to be -- protector of individual life, liberty, and property -- and it became a tool for social policy.

One product was Social Security. This is one of the castles we have built in the sky.

Sure it may take years to build these castles, and then more to realize you're moving into them. But sooner or later, reality sets in.

As we try to stay afloat with the trillions of dollars of debt we now realize we've taken on as result of government housing programs, who is thinking about the $10 trillion unfunded liabilities of Social Security?

Or how about Medicare? Social Security came from the "New Deal." Medicare was a product of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society." The unfunded bills staring at us for Medicare piles about another $50-to-$60 trillion on top of the $10 trillion Social Security debt.

How about our fundamental moral collapse over these years? Today, with almost 40 percent of our babies born to unwed mothers, it won't be long before few Americans will even know what growing up in a traditional family means.

Returning to basics in America means remembering what private property, personal responsibility, and traditional values mean.

After the tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, many got upset with a few evangelical preachers who suggested that the tragedy presented good reason for Americans to check themselves and the moral condition of our society.

America was built on basics. It's time to get back to them if our children and grandchildren are to enjoy what their parents and grandparents had.