"A democracy can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury."
This famous quote is relevant to every political era, but is arguably more relevant in 2026 than ever. When President Trump promised to give $5,000 checks to every adult American citizen if Republicans hold the House and Senate, there were some howls of outrage that this is outright bribery and is illegal. But is it really different than what every other politician does? Or is President Trump simply being more transparent about it?
Let's be honest: Nearly every politician does this. ObamaCare was essentially a promise of free health care, and President Bush sought to buy the votes of senior citizens by paying for their prescription drugs through Medicare. This also goes back to the New Deal and the Great Society, and also even before that. The transaction was simple: If you vote for me I will give you free stuff that other people pay for. So no, this is not at all unprecedented. President Trump may be more blunt in his approach, but this is essentially the same type of politics that both Republicans and Democrats (but not Libertarians) have been offering for generations.
President Trump has suggested he may do this by himself, but the Constitution makes it clear that all spending is to be initiated by Congress. The Executive Branch enforces and implements the law, but Congress writes the laws. Sadly, Congress seems determined to make itself the vestigial organ of American politics, with Senators and Representatives only willing to assert their authority when someone of the other political party occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Of course, there is no money to spend. We are forty trillion dollars in debt and we have an annual budget deficit of roughly two trillion dollars. To count the zeros, that means we are $40,000,000,000,000 in debt and spend $2,000,000,000,000 more than we collect in tax revenue every single year. This is totally insane. Despite the President's wild exaggerations, tariff revenue will not be nearly enough to cover the cost of these checks. Even if the tariff revenue was enough to cover the cost, adding $1.3 trillion to the budget is reckless and foolish.
What we need now is not more tax-and-spend liberal policies. We do not need bigger government. We need to be cutting government spending, devolving federal authority to the states, and shrinking the federal government. Republicans used to at least pretend to care about these things, and in the 1990's the Republican Congress (led by Newt Gingrich) actually succeeded in balancing the budget. Republicans need to get back to that. Maybe in 2029, we will have a chance to see that Republican Party again.
Those promised $5,000 checks
What we need now is not more tax-and-spend liberal policies. We do not need bigger government.
