"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury." -- Unknown
Deficit spending has been a contentious issue in American politics since we first became a country and started having ferocious arguments about how quickly to pay back our Revolutionary War debt. However, we've come a long way from those days and the times soon after when Jefferson had fierce arguments with Congress over whether the U.S. should expand its 4 ship Navy to force the Barbary pirates to leave American shipping be.
Today, we have a 10 trillion -- that's trillion with a "T" -- dollar debt. That's almost $34,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country. In other words, the next baby born in this country after you read this column will start his life almost $34,000 in debt -- and that's not even the real number. If the government were forced to adhere to the same standards we use for businesses and unfunded liabilities were included (Hello, Medicare and Social Security), the price tag becomes much more daunting,
"Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and all other debt combined."
That's why there's a certain unreality to the political discussions we have in this country. Those of us who are conservatives and Libertarians rail against government spending, liberals bizarrely say we need government to get even bigger -- and then both parties, after assuring us that they're going to reduce the deficit, go to Washington and promptly agree to spend even more of our money.
The politicians in D.C. hand out hundred million dollar earmarks like Trick or Treat candy even as they glibly promise to "invest" billions more and scold anyone who might be so "mean" as to want to cut whatever the latest non-functional, but pleasant-sounding government program happens to be. However, there is a big problem with that sort of thinking: at some point, no matter what kind of happy talk our politicians give us, the bill is going to eventually come due for all the goodies they're using to buy votes -- and they know it.