Agree and I want to take a chance to opine.
One of the most important things we lost with the ratification of the Constitution was the ability to move from one state to another, from one set of laws to another, and yet still live in America. Patric Henry hit on this during the ratification convention in Virginia.
We may get lucky in the USSC with Obamacare. I hope so. However we will not get lucky dealing with our debt. Writing a debt now to be paid by voters who can’t vote today (those under eighteen) truly is taxation without representation. It’s perfectly legal and Americans who disagree (most of those on FR) can’t get away from the debt without leaving the country or, some say, overturning the government. Even if we were to do the latter, we would still have the debt hanging over us.
As posted before, if this was an physical attack by a foreign power, we could fight it. Instead it’s an non-violent attack by a majority of people today on those who aren’t even voting yet. We’ll see which side wins in 2012.
Well said though I disagree on the debt. The idea of sovereign debt is that it is backed by a government which is able to do whatever it pleases with the debt. It is called sovereign because the government and it alone is responsible for it. Here is a good definition:
“Government debt, especially that held in bonds denominated in foreign currencies.”
“Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the repayment of sovereign debt cannot be forced by the creditors and it is thus subject to compulsory rescheduling, interest rate reduction, or even repudiation. The only protection available to the creditors is threat of the loss of credibility and lowering of the international standing (the sovereign debt rating) of a country, which may make it much more difficult to borrow in the future.” - http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sovereign-debt.html
Many people think sovereign means it must be repaid but what it really means is the government is godlike in its decision to payback or not payback the debt...,it cannot be overruled or forced to pay.
I do not believe any subsequent generation is morally obligate for the debts of the proceeding one. If at some point we wish to default we can. It will be the end of cheap borrowing but I am o’k with that. All debts whether foreign and domestic can be abrogated. Future generations are under no obligation to repay all of those US Treasury notes that everyone is so fond of claiming for their SS check.
A thought. How many people, expressing their conviction that they will not honor any future debts of the US government, would it take for the world to decide to quit lending us money?