James Madison wrote in Federalist 10 that the greatest danger to a republic is when government becomes a tool for:

— Rewarding one faction.

— Punishing another.

Washington, D.C., seems determined to forget: once a snowball starts rolling downhill, it doesn’t stop on its own. It grows. It gathers speed. And if no one steps in, it has the potential to knock down trees, homes and whole towns. That is exactly how I see the recent proposals coming out of Washington — including the billion-dollar “security” request tied to the new White House ballroom and the discussions about a taxpayer-funded IRS settlement pool.

Trump claimed that the ballroom was “privately funded,” yet taxpayers are being asked to cover roughly a billion dollars in “security upgrades” required only because the new structure is being added. Anyone who has ever built a home knows that security features are part of the original plan, not billion-dollar add-ons.

News reports describe discussions about establishing a compensation pool funded with IRS money — taxpayer money — for individuals this administration claims were targeted by the Biden administration, with the Trump administration itself deciding who receives payments rather than any court or class‑action process. No matter which side of the political fence a person sits on, the effect is the same: public money being directed to a politically defined group without judicial oversight.

Here is where the snowball really starts rolling. If one administration can create a billion-dollar fund for its supporters, what stops the next administration from doing the same? A future president saying, “Now it’s our turn — we’ll create a fund for the people we say were targeted”? Once that cycle begins, the snowball grows larger with every change of power.

The “trees” in its path are the laws, norms, and constitutional principles that keep government neutral and accountable. The “town” at the bottom of the hill is our republic itself. If Congress does not act as the wall that stops this momentum, we risk turning taxpayer dollars into political reward money.

A government that uses public money to reward political allies and compensate supporters is no longer functioning as a constitutional republic. It becomes a patronage system, a spoils system, a faction-based government — the very thing the founders warned would destroy the public trust and divide the nation into warring camps.

Clint Dunn

Dayton