Because there isn't an infinite supply of money, it has to come from somewhere. It's the flaw in democracy that I'm surprised has taken this long to come about

Because there isn't an infinite supply of money, it has to come from somewhere. It's the flaw in democracy that I'm surprised has taken this long to come about. People are inherently greedy, as you are pointing out, and will generally vote for whatever candidate will benefit them the most. They don't care about how it will effect the economy or where the money would come from, just that they get it. And with how hard it is to remove entitlements once they're passed, it's a constant snowball.