[Lazamataz]

Of course, the more government programs there are, the more people rely on politicians, either to receive a benefit or avoid a penalty. That reinforces the politician’s power; it forces people to support that politician or pay for not doing so.

One of our Founding Fathers observed that America was doomed as soon as her leaders discovered that the populace could be bribed with their own money.

[snopercod]

Is this the quote you were thinking of?

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapse over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the worlds greatest civilization has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: 

*From bondage to spiritual faith 

*from spiritual faith to great courage 

*from courage to liberty 

*from liberty to abundance 

*from abundance to selfishness 

*from selfishness to complacency 

*from complacency to apathy 

*from apathy to dependency 

*from dependency back again to bondage." 

Alexander Fraser Tyler