Growing threat of big government

Government is bigger than ever, spends more than it ever has, and continues to pile up massive debts at numbers so large most of us can't even imagine.

The war in Iraq has been a huge contributor, but the trend has been ongoing since the end of World War II.

It is now estimated that by the year 2040 there will be just enough revenue collected by the federal government to only pay the interest on the national debt -- nothing left over to fund the national defense, the military, social programs, etc.

Our unwillingness and inability to deal with this massive problem is robbing our grandchildren and great grandchildren of any hope to enjoy the American dream. We leave them a legacy of higher taxes, a reduced standard of living, and a financial web that will take generations to unweave.

While the lesson of our grandparents was to live within our means, ours has become one of passing the buck to future generations to pay for our excesses. A mentality that government's responsibility is to fix every stumble and fall we incur, regardless of who has to pay the tab, seems to be the order of the day.

There is no justifiable reason-- none -- to continue this madness.

There is no justifiable reason -- none -- that entitles us to literally destroy the future of generations to come by burdening them with mounds of unpaid "credit cards."

We must learn once again to live within our means, spend only what we are willing to pay for and, yes, as generations before us had done, we must learn to sacrifice.

"Big government is like a baby. A big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

-- President Ronald Reagan, 1984.

Randy Church Glendale Heights