The GOP, and conservatism in general, depend upon the voters' mistrust of their government and gullibility for their survival. They have now fully adopted the language and ideals of the pre-civil war south to preserve their hold on power, but the war on their own democratic Republic goes back decades, perhaps as far as their opposition to FDR's New Deal.

Their chief weapon in this war is the ease with which the people can be convinced to project their own situation onto their government, demanding that it react to economic shifts and cycles as if it were a household. This weapon was put on steroids by President Reagan as he vilified "big govmint" as his main campaign theme, especially when it could make use of the inherent racism of America.

The concept of America being dependent upon taxation and borrowing to "fund" its spending is relatively new as the generation that saw FDR's programs literally salvage a bankrupt economy and create America's supremacy in the world was much less prone to demanding efficiency of their government. Even if they didn't fully understand the role of a currency-issuing sovereign government in the economy, they knew that their government provided good-paying jobs.

As long as we allow corrupt politicians to convince us that our government presents a "cost" in fiscal terms, and not the "source" of our currency, we cannot effectively manage our economy except to the enrichment of the already wealthy and their corporations. A nation that believes the best way to manage its economy is to maximize shareholder equity while using its banking system to supress working class wages cannot lay claim to "liberty" or a "free market" and will fail.