What Would Hamilton Do?

From Michael McConnell:

But here is the irony. All this high‐toned government, the unelected and long‐termed Governors of the Federal Reserve, supported by Senators and Representatives serving for decades these establishment figures are the ones who have created the current mess. They did nothing to curb budget deficits or to reform entitlements when it might have been done less painfully. They wallowed in earmarks and budget gimmickry, set unrealistically low interest rates, borrowed ever‐increasing sums of money to satisfy current expenses, and made promises that are unsustainable but somehow never get contained. And it is the placard‐waving, Jeffersonian common horde flocking to town halls and filling town squares, who have become the champions of Hamiltonian concern for the long run: “Spend less, tax less and borrow less,” they say. Bring back the Hamiltonian dream, where penniless bastards from nowhere can rise by the sheer force of intellect, hard work, and audacity to succeed in an America that prefers opportunity to entitlement, that lets losing businesses fail, and winning businesses make serious money.

How ironic it will be if Hamilton’s dream of a national blessing were restored by the very low‐toned, democratic, unruly politics that he thought incapable of it.

The last bit brings to mind Franklin's reply to the woman who asked him, immediately after the Constitutional Convention adjourned, what kind of government had they had given us. I guess we've done alright by Franklin so far.