Thank you for printing the letter of Bob McMullen ("What a voter wants from the government," Nov. 15). There could be no better definition of federal government mission creep, although I'm sure that he could add to his list.
It epitomizes the mentality that has brought us to the fiscal brink, one that expects more than it can ever give (thus the staggering federal debt). There is always room for one more federal program and its associated and expensive bureaucracy — all, of course, paid for by someone else through the coercion of taxation and borrowed money. Inevitable effects are ignored: hyper-inflated college and medical expenses largely enabled by the availability of "other people's money"; nearly 2,000 new federal regulations each month; the strangling of small businesses, the historic engine of our economy; the generational cycle of dependency — to name just a few.
The moral failing of this mentality is best summarized as the theft it represents from our children, who will have to pay the piper. If Mr. McMullen's lengthy list reflects "the stuff that makes America great" and is the reason why half of the electorate voted for Barack Obama, the fiscal cliff is the least of our worries.
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David O. Berger • Olivette