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The real significance of this very significant commentary lies in the fact it was promulgated by a Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary.

Presumably, when Mr. Young speaks in this matter, he speaks for the administration. O'Neill had to have approved it. And Bush had to be on board in every detail. This was nothing less than a policy statement by the Bush administration.

Using commentaries to promote policy aren't altogether rare. But, usually, they are used as a means of expressing and recording a foreign policy decision and run toward the non-controversial State Department boilerplate.

This one is a totally different critter. It is a partisan shot across the bow of the liberal pirates.

Strong stuff...

This one is a totally different critter. It is a partisan shot across the bow of the liberal pirates. Strong stuff...

Agree 100%. Sir Tyler does too:

The Scottish Jurist and Historian Sir Alex Fraser Tyler published a collection of lectures in 1801. He advanced a theory of democracy based on historical observation:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can exist only until voters discover that they can vote themselves largeses from the public treasury. From that time on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.
"The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage."

Source (which is worthwhile reading): http://www.ndonline.com/tribwebpage/news/jul2000/728200051046.html

Written over 200 years ago and the guy hits us right between the eyeballs. Amazing, isn't it?