The more I read about the negotiations (or lack thereof) and the political posturing going on in Washington, the more I think everybody should just sit back and watch the country go over the so-called “fiscal cliff”. I agree with Marc Thiessen in Friday’s Washington Post opinion page editorial – Americans voted for bigger government in the 2012 presidential election (I mean, is there anyone out there that thinks Barack Obama and the Democrats want smaller government?), now it’s time for American taxpayers to pony up:

Barring a last-minute breakthrough, taxes will go up for every American taxpayer on Jan. 1 — and that’s a development conservatives should welcome.

Don’t get me wrong, it would be better not to raise taxes on anyone, pursue pro-growth tax reform and cut the size of government instead. But that’s not what the American people voted to do last month. Americans cast their ballots for big government.

Now it’s time to pay for it.

Until now, the growth of government under President Obama has not hit the pocketbooks of most Americans. During Obama’s first term, federal spending grew to more than 24 percent of GDP — the highest it has been since 1946. Yet almost no one in the country (except smokers and those who frequent indoor tanning salons) saw their taxes rise. Quite the opposite: 160 million Americans saw their payroll taxes reduced from 6.2 to 4.2 percent.

How can we expect people to care about the growth of government if it doesn’t cost them anything?

Instead of paying for the current miasma of spending, we’ve been borrowing the money from our children and grandchildren. The national debt has grown by nearly $6 trillion in the four years since Obama took office. That generational theft cannot continue. We must not keep financing big government by passing the bills on to the next generation. Ideally, we would stop the spending binge and live within our means. But if the nation is not up to that, then we should all pitch in and pay for it — all of us

I couldn’t agree more. At some point people have to know that elections have consequences, positive or negative. I have little doubt that there’s a substantial segment of the American population that thinks the government is some benevolent Santa Claus that can print money at will and just play the role of wet-nurse in alleviating everything that ails them. They neither understand or could care about basic economics or where the revenue that government needs at all levels of our society actually comes from. And the problem isn’t insufficient revenue, it’s runaway and reckless spending – by both parties. Time for the wake-up call, kiddies.

Everything – and I do mean everything is about to get more expensive as employers pass along extra costs to consumers. Jobs will become more scarce as employers decide that between higher taxes and greater regulations (especially involving Obamacare) that it’s not worth hiring more people and creating more jobs. Less money in people’s pockets will have an adverse effect on the services industry at all levels, which will in turn create even more scaling back. As a result (and I hope and pray I’ve proven wrong) I have a very bad feeling about 2013 and what is coming down the pike, but this is what Americans voted for. It’s going to be a very tough pill for people to swallow, but maybe this is what needs to happen.

I just hope me and my family aren’t too adversely affected by the changes coming; in the days ahead it’s going to be every man for himself and people tightening their already tight belts further. Everyone, and I do mean everyone is about to be impacted to one extent or another. My sense is that this is actually what Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in Washington want, and what those who either voted for them or didn’t bother to vote for their Republican challengers in effect voted for.

Hang on tight, folks – it’s gonna be a rough ride.