Gee, You Really Think That's Going to Do It, Nanny Statists?

"The European Union signaled on Thursday it was ready to back calls by Germany and France for limited changes to the bloc's main treaty to shore up Europe's defenses against any new financial crises."

Update: John Bolton writes:

These striking developments in Europe emphasize both how hard it is to withstand the endless expansion of the state’s role in civil society, and how hard it is to roll back even failed and financially debilitating statist policies. Public expectations become entrenched, citizens become dependent and attached to their benefits, which come to be seen as “entitlements,” and the steps necessary to redress the balance can be painful.

With considerable justification, therefore, American voters now see the impending November 2 elections as enormously consequential for their future. The individual races effectively embody a stark choice: whether to begin the daunting task of turning the United States back toward its founding principles, or whether to descend further into the status of European social democracies like France and Greece.