Cicero, Then and Now

Hat tip goes to the Seatle Tea Party Patriots who included the following historical news item in their recent email:

Cicero, 55 BC -- We as a nation would do well to heed this sage advice provided some 2060 plus years ago...

*  The budget should be balanced
*  The Treasury should be refilled
*  Public debt should be reduced
*  The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled
*  The assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt
*  People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance

Cicero could just as easily be talking about the United States of America in 2011, could he not?