In my mind I always think the Republic is like a great machine that has been worn down by the elements. Like a beautiful car that is all rusted over time and needs a rebuild. The rust in this case is the human condition. They have eroded the separation of powers and the general Constitutional framework with death by a thousand cuts. The federal government was never ever supposed to be this big. Congress was never supposed to delegate its lawmaking to the executive branch. We were never supposed to be slaves to a tax system, etc. If you always have to pay a "property tax" how do you ever really own the land you live on? My parents paid off their mortgage in 10 years. For what? My widowed mother's property taxes are 10 times what her mortgage payment was years ago. They could have refinanced forever and it wouldn't have made a difference. She's still dependent on the federal government for her survival.

It was incremental and as anticipated by the founders, on an approximate 200 year time frame. Just like you can predict the average life of a car, a Republic can only last so long until the human condition wears it down. The founders really were political "scientists." They James Madison was probably my favorite. He was such a genius at such a young age. Time for a rebuild that's for sure. We have to tear this thing apart, take of the rust and corrosion, and put it back together all shiny and new.