Building the Titanic.

In 1910, government spending accounted for 8% of the U.S. economy. Government spending for 2010 will be 48.48% of the U.S. GDP. That is the highest it has been since 1945 when it was 52.9% of the GDP. In 1945, the U.S. was fighting a world war. After the war, government spending dropped dramatically to 7.3% in 1948. It is extraordinarily unlikely government spending today will drop anytime soon. Even if it does, it will not drop significantly. Unlike in the 1940's, the U.S. is not fighting a world war. It is not even fighting a cold war. Counting the War on Terror, the 2010, defense spending as a percentage of the GDP in 2010 was 13%. The defense department could be abolished and the U.S. would still be in the red by almost $1 trillion

Government spending as a percentage of the GDP has risen over the last two years from 37.12% to 44.48%. That money was spent to prop up the economy and increase the size of government. According to the GPO, in 2012 the gross federal debt will be 100.6% of the GDP. The good news is that percentage is expected to drop to only 99.8%by 2014. If the federal government can exercise some fiscal restraint, that .2% can be used to start paying down the debt. At least it would be a good gesture.

What makes this grim news all the more grim is the extent to which the U.S. is dependent on the federal government. More than ever before the economy, and the public, are dependent on the federal government for their well being. Under the Obama administration, millions of Americans now rely upon government for their cars, their houses, their jobs, and their health care. Whole industries are being supported by Washington. If the federal government collapses under the weight of the growing national debt, it will take the nation down with it.

It didn't have to be this way. The federal government, as it was designed by the Framers, was to be a small and limited thing. It was created to do only those few things that the states could not do for themselves, e.g. provide for the defense of the nation, print money, and oversee trade. Neither the states nor their citizens relied upon Washington for their survival. For most of the nation, the federal government was something heard of but not seen or felt. There was little Washington could do to affect the lives or livelihoods of citizens short of starting a war. Indeed, Washington could have sunk into the swamp it was built on and most Americans would not have felt its loss.

The federal government began growing the day after the Constitution was signed, but it was not until the 20th century that it fully hit its stride. Since the New Deal of the 1930's, the federal government has expanded at a relentless pace. It is now the largest and single most powerful force in American life. There is no one and nothing outside its influence and grasp. There is no organization, institution or industry beyond its reach. Virtually nothing can be built, bought or sold without the government's approval or involvement. The government's move into health care was simply part of a long tradition of government expansion. Many will not rest until the federal government has filled every nook and cranny of American life. The government will have to keep expanding to meet the restless ambitions of those who would change the world.

America's fate is now tied to the federal government. Federalism was once a source of strength in the U.S., like bulkheads in a ship. That is no longer so. Those bulkheads that have not been removed have been weakened. We are now sailing like the Titanic. As large, luxurious and powerful as the ship may be, one iceberg can threaten to sink it. With the fiscal recklessness in Washington, we are steering straight for the icebergs.