  urlLink sacbee.com -- George Will -- George F. Will: DeMint's eager agenda : A must-read from George Will. "America is in, he says, 'an eleventh-hour crisis' of democracy because it recently reached a point where a majority are 'dependent on the federal government for their health care, education, income or retirement. ' Tax reforms, from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, have removed many Americans from the income tax rolls: 'Today, the majority of Americans can vote themselves more generous government benefits at little or no cost to themselves. ' DeMint asks: 'How can any free nation survive when a majority of its citizens, now dependent on government services, no longer have the incentive to restrain the growth of government? ' DeMint's fear, that dependency produces 'learned helplessness,' echoes Tocqueville's warning about government keeping people 'fixed irrevocably in childhood,' rendering 'the employment of free will less useful and more rare.
' It is, Tocqueville said, 'difficult to conceive how men who have entirely renounced the habit of directing themselves could succeed at choosing well those who will lead them. '" Another favorite line - Why has the cost of laser eye surgery fallen 22 percent in four years? For the same reason the cost of cosmetic surgery has been rising more slowly than the inflation rate. These elective procedures are generally paid for by individuals from their own resources. 
