What is often forgotten about the Clinton years budget cuts is the entire cut came on the back of the Military. From weapons systems to boots ready to hit the ground, to ships, planes, and tanks -the budget was slashed. Social programs continued their upward growth.
The Bush administration added the military budget back in and let the democrats boost the social spending to keep them on board in the early years of the war. The administration also added in the widely demanded Medicare drug program and increased spending in education. The democrats complaint with the administration was Bush did not do enough, seniors still have to pay too much and children in big cities still are in poor schools. Spending is now rampant.
Social spending is now unstoppable. Much of it is now locked in mandates. It all seemed so easy for years. Want more benefits for this group or that group, make a program. Spend a billion here or there, make a constituent group happy. Get poor people into houses, force banks to make loans with low interest, in fact make that interest only. Bankers believed the loans government “backed” and took it another step forward and reduced requirements for virtually everyone. If we can do all this why not national health care and national retirement accounts for everyone? The mentality went viral. Mr. Obama now propositions share the wealth openly.
I am not sure there is a single group that can be blamed, it is generational. The principles of free enterprise for markets and liberty for citizens have to be relearned. That citizens are smarter and wiser by making their own choices in markets and experiencing the consequences of their actions seems intuitive. That local electors spending money and enacting laws in the community where the effect is quickly felt and realized, teaches much stronger lessons on the effects of governing with the net result strengthening the country as a whole. These ideas are no longer obvious to the rising generations of politicians and voters.
Our politics of the last 20 years shows the increasing belief that government is the best controller of the economy, the arbitrator between individuals, and teacher of morals. Why the United States was able to shine in so many areas compared to other nations had little to do with natural resources and nothing to do with genetics. It is certainly not the government efficiency. It was the collective wisdom and intelligence of the population garnered from millions of individual choices over all aspects of their lives backed by a good moral value system. In short liberty along with government close to the people with a strong underlying moral value system. We have moved away from both and now must pay a price.