For millions of folks, the federal government is now their sugar daddy. According to the Wall Street Journal, 47% of people in this country, both citizens and non-citizens, are receiving one or more federal benefits payments. That is the highest entitlement percentage in U.S. history.

And that's just the way some in the Democratic Party want it. Get the folks hooked on government benefits, and you'll have their votes for life because those mean Republicans are so full of self-reliance they'll always oppose federal largesse.

From 2007 to 2010, the Democratic-controlled Congress added $5.3 trillion to America's already astronomical debt, a record spending spree over a four-year period of time. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid led the wild ride with Presidents Bush and Obama signing off on the binge.

Now, the USA is approaching bankruptcy, and the Democrats still don't want to rein in spending. They fight cuts every step of the way, offering up phony "tax the rich" mantras to deceive the voting the public into believing that increasing revenue can dig America out of its well of red ink.

Liberal Americans like to think of themselves as compassionate, championing a vast public money flow to those who have not. But what is compassionate about wrecking an entire economy? America's economic status was downgraded because our government has failed to aggressively deal with deficit spending. The dollar is being hammered because confidence in it is flagging all over the world. While countries like Switzerland and Germany retain healthy balance sheets, the USA is following the philosophy of Zorba the Greek-dancing all day long rather than confronting the reality of irresponsible behavior. Simply put, the federal government cannot continue fiddling while the economy burns. It must begin implementing aggressive spending cuts across the board.

If that would finally happen, then we could look at revenue enhancement in a fair and effective way.

But it's a lot easier to trot out Warren Buffett in the role of ancient mariner. My secretary pays more income tax than I do, he whines. Well, Warren, you can write a monstrous check to the Treasury any time you wish in order to right that wrong. But demanding the feds raise the capital gains tax will assure a long winter for the stock market, would it not?

President Obama will not win reelection on the class warfare ticket, but it seems that he is determined to try. By all means, close up loopholes that allow corporations like General Electric to avoid paying taxes. Yes, dial back lavish deductions that fat cats use to dodge responsible tax payment. But let's knock off the "fair share" myth, okay? Affluent Americans have been paying a disproportionate amount of income tax for decades, and still the nation remains deeply in debt.

Punishing achievement is not the road to fiscal solvency, Mr. President. Just ask the Swiss.