Their actions and policies have not yet culminated in a fall but, without real action to address our uncontrolled spending, disaster will surely happen. Right wing Republicans seem to think that the problem can be solved overnight and without raising any additional revenues. There is nothing in their program that recognizes the fact that turning around and moving back from the edge of the cliff must be done somewhat slowly and carefully while using every available foot and handhold. That means both cuts in spending and increases in revenue.
We, The People, elected these politicians and, therefore, must take responsibility. While our next opportunity to thank them for their service (service?), and wish them good fortune in their new lives, is not until the elections in November 2012, we must express our displeasure firmly, and frequently, up until that point.
Otherwise, we may find ourselves in the predicament that Benjamin Franklin foresaw. When asked what the drafters of the Constitution had produced, he responded: "A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it."
The growth of 'Big Government' and the Imperial Presidency has been almost uninterrupted since the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. As a result, we are in danger of losing our Republic.
Whether that be as a result of bankruptcy and chaos followed by authoritarian rule or merely by a process of increasingly large and intrusive government, with us playing the role of frogs in a pot of slowly heated water, as politicians responds to demands for 'more, more' is as yet uncertain. What is certain is that there is still some time to act to trim the government but less time than we would like.
Without prompt action, however, we will have to conclude that President Bill Clinton was engaged in wishful thinking when, in the 1996 State of the Union Address, he said that the era of Big Government is over.
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