Thomas Babington Macaulay was a famous British historian and Secretary of War.  Before his death in 1859, he once said:

A democracy cannot survive as a permanent form of government.  It can last only until its citizens discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the pubic treasury.  From that moment on, the majority (who vote) will vote for those candidates promising the greatest benefits from the public purse, with the result that a democracy will always collapse from loose fiscal policies.


Assuming that democracy can have a fatal flaw, like everything else in life, and assuming this is the fatal flaw of democracy, it begs several questions:

1.  How do we manage the risk of excessive “largesse”?  That requires admitting there is a potential problem, honestly assessing the real costs, and then paying for it — really paying for it, without relying on some accounting trick or economic hope.
2.  How do we measure our success . . . or failure . . . in managing the risk?  The fiscal debt or structural debt?
3.  When will we admit we have failed to manage that risk?  What has to happen first?
4.  What replaces the greatest political system in history and who decides?
5.  Does democracy “self-renew”?   If so, how?
6.  Can we have a fiscal revolution without a physical revolution?

It takes endless vigilance to protect our democracy from this fatal flaw.  Fortunately, we have been blessed by effective elected officials who have protected the purse . . . and therefore our democracy.  Ronald Reagan comes to mind.

However, I know of no intransigent elected officials who have effectively protected the purse or our democracy.  Ronald Reagan again comes to mind, with his 80/20 rule — to give up 20% in order to get 80% of what he wanted.

Watching the Tea Party trying to protect our purse and our democracy is like watching a good doctor yelling at a dying patient to stop being sick.  The doctor’s intentions are honorable, but his actions are ineffective.

I hope the Tea Party gets 80% of what they want . . . and learns how to legislate effectively!