Second Degree Bern

Two groups tempt me to despair over the future of my country: the Republicans and the Democrats. On the one hand, the Republican ps, with few exceptions, have failed to stand up to Dishonest Donald, or to insist on anything approaching what used to be the agenda of the better elements in the GOP. It's not just that I find Trump personally appalling, but that he has no concern for fiscal responsibility, or for any other principle that may conflict with his interests or his appetites of the moment. He campaigned on not letting Social Security be cut, for example; he did not offer any plan to make it solvent. The Democrats, meanwhile, are big on more welfare spending and big government.

The Tea Party has been proclaimed dead by one of its founders. We have two parties which quarrel on how much to spend on what, but neither of which supports limited government and a balanced budget. Sooner or later, we are likely to get our noses rubbed in Margaret Thatcher's dictum that the trouble with socialism (and with right wing populism) is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money.

I do not expect the rubbing to be pleasant. Whether constitutional government will survive it remains to be discovered.