The following is commentary from the author. Stupid factor 0/10.
Much was made during primary season of Barrack Obama’s seemingly elitist view of Middle Americans who “cling” to guns and religion in an effort to deal with the changing world around them. Elitist? Maybe. But Obama’s problem isn’t that you are “clinging” to something, it is that you are “clinging” to the wrong things, at least in his mind.
In 2001 Obama made the following comment: “…I would argue that affirmative action is important precisely because those who benefit typically rise to the challenge when given an opportunity."[1] Note the use of the word “given”. In order for something to be given, someone has to also be the giver. Someone must bestow opportunity on another. To Obama, opportunity is not seized, taken, grasped or won. Opportunity is not the prize at the end of a long struggle or journey. To him, opportunity is a gift from someone else, a reward for simply hanging in there. Sure you can “rise to the challenge” but someone needs to tell you what that challenge is, right? You as an individual cannot possibly be counted on to get off the couch and seize the day, so someone needs to knock on your door, get you dressed and make sure you use the bathroom before our big trip to prosperity-ville. Its nonsense, of course, but it sells.
It sells, precisely because of the prosperity that Obama denies exists. The prevalence of flat screen TVs, cell phones and personal computers among the middle class not only demonstrates how far we have come as a society in the last 100 years, it gives people serious alternatives to work. My grandfather didn’t have American Idol to come home to so putting in overtime or going to school on the GI Bill at night were legitimate ways to spend his time. Today, we are so distracted with the niceties of life that we the ambition drive in neutral and wait for government to step in and provide the opportunities we used to go out and seek. At least, that is what Mr. Obama believes.
Where does Obama develop such beliefs? From us, of course. He extrapolates stories of struggle and personal failure to us as a nation. When a woman in Michigan says “…I have been poor, and I have had to struggle, so I should get special treatment." [2] Obama doesn’t ask, what have you done to improve your life? He asks, how can we help? How can we give you what you need to succeed? What kind of special treatment should your government provide that it hasn’t? One of my favorite comedian’s was the late Sam Kinnison who famously asked the starving people of Ethiopia why they lived in a desert and didn’t “go where the food” was? Shouldn’t the same question apply to those who are struggling in high tax, low employment areas like Ohio and Michigan? While we feel your pain, perhaps we should determine what is causing it before we try to fix it. Obama is a modern day snake oil salesman prescribing the cure for you symptoms without fully understanding the disease.
Obama doesn’t think there is any real fix to problems like those of people suffering in Michigan other than government programs. A recent Wall Street Journal interview summarized his thoughts: “While Sen. McCain has argued that tax cuts -- particularly on business -- spur growth, Sen. Obama rejected that as flawed economics. "I've seen no evidence that...would actually boost the economic growth and productivity," he said.” [3] Really? No evidence? Did Mr. Obama happen to swing through Texas at any point in the last couple of years? Has he noted that low tax Texas is gaining employers and residents while high tax states like the aforementioned Ohio and Michigan are losing both? Has the junior Senator from Illinois traveled abroad recently? Has he seen the prosperity in Ireland that has been driven by the lowest corporate tax rate in Western Europe? Did his Harvard education teach him to view these as mere coincidence?
The answer is that, very likely, Obama knows better. But he believes that you don’t. He thinks that you are oblivious to the real world experiments that show how high taxation drives away jobs and business. He believes that you feel like you are owed something and he is more than willing to promise it to you. Its easy to play Robin Hood this political season, promising to take from the wealthy and give to the poor. Because Obama can’t win if we cling to guns and religion. But he can and will win if we cling to big government.
Will Rogers said it best-“Even if you are on the right track you will still get run over if you just sit there.”
Will Rogers said it best-“Even if you are on the right track you will still get run over if you just sit there.”
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