can just see the American people looking at the federal budget and its impact on our economy and saying, “This is why we can’t have anything nice!” While Congress certainly holds much of the blame, they are not alone. After all, We the People, have put every member of Congress into that position and, for the most part, refuse to hold them accountable for effectively bankrupting the United States.
Alexis de Tocqueville was correct. The republic survived until Congress figured out how to bribe the public with its own money.
Do you remember the line from the movie The Empire Strikes Back?
The one where Lando Calrissian shouted, “It’s not my fault!” Well, when it comes to our national debt, there are plenty of people claiming, “It’s not my fault!” For example, a lot of people like to blame the president for their deficits, but it’s Congress that appropriates money for the President to spend. In that Congress, the parties like to blame each other, either for the spending or the tax cuts. But our deficits have been a bipartisan problem for decades. And as many of the American people who complain about the spending and deficits, we seem to forget that it is We the People, who not only placed those members of Congress, but we condone their fiscal mismanagement.
Let’s face it: I doubt there’s a single member of Congress who worries that they’ll lose their job for only voting for fiscally sound appropriations. However, probably each and everyone worries that if they don’t embezzle money from the American people to bribe them for their votes, they’ll lose their seats. As Alexis De Tocqueville said, the republic will survive until Congress realizes it can bribe the public with the public’s money.
