Australia and the United States are entirely different countries. You say we should adopt Australia's policies, yet as a country we've obviously been successful historically without the need for an over-sized federal government. Even if we increase taxes on the American people (which they've already shown they don't want) it would not cover the increase in spending as a percentage of GDP as time goes on. The U.S government would be more motivated to print money using our ridiculous federal reserve, and the dollar would be devalued further (meaning Americans will get poorer.) But, the fiscal cliff will automatically decrease spending (particuarly inefficient spending) and it would increase taxes automatically. We see this within the U.S as well. The states with overbloated governments (California) are doing very poorly, while the states with more freedom from taxation (New Hampshire) are doing quite well. People know how to spend money better than the government does. It is quite clear. Which I think you agree. One must consider economics with the political lands ape of the country. Americans don't want a large centralized government because of other issues, hence we want a good economy while maintaining the balances between states and the federal government and our freedoms in individual decision making. These are things European countries don't offer, and I'm not sure whether or not Australia does.
