French author Alexis de Tocqueville toured America in the early 19th Century and wrote at length on what he found. This is what he said about the life expectancy of the United States: "The American Republic will endure until the Congress realises that it can bribe the public with the public's money." My, that sounds familiar! Entitlements, anyone? I think there's a nice lady out there who expected her mortgage to be paid and her car filled with gas.