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In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 to assist some French refugees, James Madison, the acknowledged father of our Constitution, stood on the floor of the House to object, saying,
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." ... "(T)he government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government."
Two hundred years later, at least two-thirds of a multi-trillion-dollar federal budget is spent on charity or "objects of benevolence." [i.e., 'entitlements']
What would the founders think about our respect for democracy and majority rule? Here's what Thomas Jefferson said:
"The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society."
John Adams advised,
"Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."
The founders envisioned a republican form of government, but as Benjamin Franklin warned,
"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
[And our government is working overtime creating more government and public employee union-voting blocks...
This can tip to an irreversible spiral down to oblivion via bankruptcy - we're on the cusp now...]
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