"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money". (Alexis de Tocqueville 1840)
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits, with the result the democracy collapses because of loose fiscal policy..." (multiple historic attributions, quoted by Ronald Reagan in 1964)
