if a person or system is going to hell in a handbasket, they are in an extremely bad state and becoming worse He believes the welfare system in this country is going to hell in a handcart.
Heading for trouble. The expression might possibly have been inspired by the heads of decapitated prisoners falling or being dumped into handbaskets or handcarts. The “handbasket” alliteration following “going to hell” caught on and was applied to anyone whose behavior was likely to lead to an unhappy consequence.