[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by fastd

Whatever it is called, it is a ridiculous expansion of the government; this country was built on the concept of a limited Federal government; programs like these are destroying that concept in favor of the next BS program to help save some maligned group or cause.

Very well stated. What Thomas Jefferson and the Framers envisioned was a Federal Government with very limited and discreet powers, specifically defined in the Constitution. Jefferson wrote after leaving office:

"I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. To preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they do now, on oatmeal and potatoes..."

The solution was never envisioned as an expansion of government to save the auto industry or float a "public option" on healthcare. The solution was for people to work (or go without) and the government to operate within its means. It was never planned that we borrow more than our tax base could repay. We are now borrowing money and running up a national debt that will eventually break our country. Then our creditors will overrun us at the first sign of a falter. As of January this year, we owe China $772B and over 25% of our Treasurey securities are in the hands of foreign governments. And they keep ignoring the GAO...print the money and roll on.