Comment by brightball

It's a simple question of economics and observation.

In a free marketplace, when a product, service or company is no longer useful...it dies. This creates a natural incentive to constantly improve, operate more efficiently or expand into new areas where it can create value.

With government spending, this doesn't happen because there's no incentive for it to happen. Programs are created and then they grow, perpetually, forever.

My goodness, I still remember Bill Clinton proudly showing a balanced budget. I remember George Bush Jr running with one of his biggest campaign points around fixing Social Security.

How we got from that era of energy for fiscal responsibility to $39 trillion in debt is...maddening.