The fundamental purpose of our Constitution is to discipline the government – and “We the People.” Thus, as its principal author, James Madison, wrote, federal powers were to be “few and defined.”
Yet today, after the New Deal “constitutional revolution,” we have massive government. And we demand far more services than we’re willing to pay for. So we borrow – and burden our children.
The national debt now exceeds $21 trillion, and it’s growing. Unfunded federal liabilities vastly exceed that. This cannot continue, as our entitlement agencies are telling us. Look at Detroit, Puerto Rico, Greece, Venezuela. Who will bail out America?
– Roger Pilon, VP for Legal Affairs & Founding Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute