Cal Thomas - From USA to ATM?

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, April 2nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Commentator Cal Thomas has some thoughts on Washington’s free-spending ways.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Cognitive dissonance is when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs simultaneously. 

I would argue it does not apply to those of us who support the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill Congress passed while at the same time worrying about the increasing national debt. If you’re keeping track, it’s $23 trillion and counting.

It’s fair to ask: Are we mortgaging our future for the sake of temporary relief from the economic side effects of the coronavirus pandemic? If our elected representatives and unelected bureaucrats can effectively order the U.S. Treasury to print more money and borrow in continuing excess, what happens when the next crisis hits? Where will it end? 

Historically, debt has been a major contributor to the decline of great nations. It is why James Madison warned—quote—“If Congress can employ money indefinitely, for the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every state, county, and parish, and pay them out of the public treasury. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America.” End quote. 

We are ignoring the prophetic nature of Madison’s statement at our peril. The philosophy of individual freedom is under assault. 

If Madison’s warning isn’t warning enough, how about this one from 18th-century Scottish lawyer, writer, and historian Alexander Fraser Tytler. Quoting now: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates 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.” End quote. 

Government is growing ever bigger with no spending cuts—even when the economy is booming. Our leaders seem incapable of doing away with any program or agency—no matter how useless or outmoded it has become. 

Republicans used to consider national debt their issue. They are now joined at the pocketbook with Democrats and can never again argue against debt with any credibility.

America, you have been warned by the ghosts of the past, but how many are listening and heeding those warnings? 

If uncontrolled and unlimited spending continues, we might have to change the nation’s abbreviation from USA to ATM.

I’m Cal Thomas.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) This July 16, 2019, file photo shows the Capitol Dome in Washington. 

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