“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

— Cicero, in 55 B.C.

I think this is a particularly trenchant quote at the moment, what with the bunch of morons in Washington flirting with disaster. We’re all going to pay, and pay dearly for their incompetence and I wouldn’t be surprised if the country is permanently damaged. And just look at what happened to Rome…