“And if there are any persons in this country, and I should regret it if there are any such in this House, who think that a public debt is a public blessing, and that heavy taxation is expedient in order to produce industry; who believe that large standing armies are essential to maintain the energy, and that extensive patronage is indispensable to support the dignity of government; who suppose that frequent wars are necessary to animate human character, and to call into action the dormant energies of our nature; who have been expelled from authority and power by the indignant voice of the offended country, and who repine and suffer at the great and unexampled prosperity which this country is rapidly attaining under other and better auspices — Such men, whoever they are, and wherever they be, will rally round the proposition now before us, and will exploit it to the heavens as the model of the most profound policy, and as the offspring of the most exalted energy.” - De Witt Clinton, speech in the Senate, February 23, 1803.
Any of this sounding familiar yet?
“The fact is, that I am the watchman, the man on the tower, who can be neither coaxed, nor wheedled, nor bullied; and I have expressed my determination never to quit my post until I obtain a cheap government for the country, and, by doing away with the places and pensions, prevent the people’s pockets from being picked. These men know that if I were to get into the House of Commons under a reformed Parliament, I should speedily effect that object, and therefore they are resolved to get rid of me by some means or other.” - William Cobbett, Defense against charges of libel before the Court of The King’s Bench, July 1831.