The Federal Debt Elevator: Headed Up

[redcliffsw]

All theories of democratic civil government rest on the assumption that the voters somehow can monitor the decisions of tax-funded government agencies. These theories assume that voters and their elected politicians can maintain control over what is done with the state-confiscated wealth of the voters. These theories are preposterous. Waste is inherent in civil government. So is graft. There is no way to monitor billions of transactions. The possibilities for theft are enormous and continuous. So are the possibilities for misuse of funds to suppress our liberties.

Until voters perceive that they are being hurt by the transfer of 40% to 50% of their productivity to civil government, the system is immune to reform. Until voters feel real pain as a result of this confiscation, there will be no change. Until voters can identify the cause of their pain – wealth transfer by state coercion – there will be no change.
-Gary North

http://lewrockwell.com/north/north994.html

[redcliffsw]

CONCLUSION (to the above article).

Anyone who thinks the Federal debt ceiling is now or ever has been a ceiling has not come to grips with the political reality of the free ride. Until there is widespread political pain, there will be no debt ceiling. It's an elevator, and it keeps going higher.

There is not yet widespread pain. There is no widespread identification of the ever-expanding Federal government and the reduction of economic growth and the increase in Federal debt. The debt ceiling is not taken seriously by Congress and never has been. It never goes down.

The bills will come due. The can will grow too large to kick. But until then, the voters will continue to imagine that there are free lunches in life. They will continue to grant the politicians a free ride.

When the can is finally too large to kick, the defaults will begin. If you hold IOUs from the government, you will find that you, not the can, will get kicked. Hard.
-Gary North on June 18, 2011