[mewzilla]

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.

Alexis de Tocqueville

[Riley]

Thank you for reminding me of that quote.

[cmj328]

And let’s face facts: that prophecy has been fulfilled in our midst. So now what?

[littleharbour]

mewzilla wrote:

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money. Alexis de Tocqueville”

The problem isn’t bribing the public with the public’s money - it’s bribing the public with borrowed money. Our tiny province of 850,000 people (New Brunswick) had a deficit last year of $750,000,000, edging the accumulated debt to about $8.5 billion. We’re now in the midst of a provincial election. The governing party’s solution to the deficit? Promising a “free” laptop to every junior and senior high student in the province! This populist madness infects almost every democracy in the world.