We’ve all seen or heard about them. Perhaps they are friends or family members who have demonstrated financial irresponsibility: a college student who has a budget and quickly exceeds it on wild partying; a cousin or best friend who asks for a “loan” and then never pays it back; people whose credit cards are maxed out and they can’t afford the finance charges.

Government behaves similarly, playing any or all of those roles. It now resembles an irresponsible parent, spending the children’s wages and inheritance as if there were no tomorrow. Republicans lost the spending issue — and their congressional majority — because they behaved like overspending Democrats. Now Democrats in the House are going the Republicans one better. They are promising to increase spending should they win the White House and maintain their congressional majority.

Cal Thomas does his regular analysis of government overspending

And then there is my personal favorite: government auditors spent the last five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them — costing taxpayers $123 billion per year — fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.

This is outrageous. That our elected officials participate in this sham and then claim they can’t afford to cut anything ought to disgust us all, especially when some are planning to spend even more. It demonstrates that a government program is proof of eternal life in Washington.