Entitlements and the Addiction of Debt

Cal Thomas | Syndicated Columnist | Updated: Oct 12, 2011

Entitlements and the Addiction of Debt

Welcome to the dog days of August!

As Congress and the White House continue fiddling, while America burns, there is no mystery how we got into our financial mess. In an attempt to preserve themselves in office, politicians have taken on the role of drug dealers, dispensing addiction to government programs paid for with other people’s money.

Now that half the country is hooked with 80 million checks going out every month – much of it drawn on borrowed money – people are screaming like a heroin addict who has just been told he’ll have to quit cold turkey.

The Puritan doctrine of living within your means and doing for yourself has been discarded in favor of “shared sacrifice,” “entitlements” and “benefits.”

Having been hooked, it is going to be extremely difficult to tell the addicts they can no longer have the drugs. Members of Congress known as the Tea Party are trying, but they have an extremely difficult task. They should be prayed for.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

Publication date: August 1, 2011

Entitlements and the Addiction of Debt