It is interesting to listen to the Democrats talk about Karl Rove and the Bush Administration’s politics of fear. Don’t believe those Republicans – they are just trying to scare you. We offer a politics of hope with a positive message.
The problem is that in order for their message to work, in order for us to seize on their message of hope – brought to you by the government, by the way which may be absurd on its face – they have to make you believe that the present course is hopeless. That is why you need them. They offer no ideas, no programs, no solutions – only the same sick message – the Republicans are wrong so, therefore, we must be right.
They would have you believe that the war in Iraq is the most disastrous war in our history. We have once again fallen into the trap of a land war in Asia. Senator Harry Reid, the distinguished majority leader in the Senate declared that the war is lost, its over, just bring our few remaining boys out of there before its too late. It is not that simple but the constant bashing of the Bush Administration and the Iraq war by the untrustworthy media has made it difficult for the administration to respond on any number of issues. The President is now in a lame duck status and the pile of world problems that are gathering under the carpet of the oval office for the next occupant to clean up is becoming a problem.
I was interesting to hear Mr Obama in his coronation speech talk about the great Democrat military Presidents – FDR and JFK. My memory of history must be slipping. Didn’t FDR keep us out of World War II until Europe was overrun and Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The resulting conflict cost millions of lives. Maybe we should have been paying attention to Hitler and Tojo during the 1930s. Perhaps that is a message we should be considering before we pass judgment on the Iraq conflict and this administration’s conduct of the war. And didn’t JFK lead us into Viet Nam? But there is enough blame in that one for several administrations of both parties.
The Democrat convention has been a brightly colored multi-media feast of fear and loathing. Class warfare is rampant. The bad guy is Big Oil and their bought and paid for politicians in the West Wing. By the way, did anybody ever ask just exactly who is big oil ? It is corporations – it is shareholders. It is the energy sector stocks in the 401K fund portfolios of practically every American employed by a company offering a 401K plan. A windfall profits tax ? Just exactly who do you think is going to pay it. We are – as consumers at the gas pump. We are – as shareholders.
Let me remind you of the most basic rule of government. In order for government to give me a dollar, they have to take that dollar away from you by force. Period. All government programs come down to this simple truth. And all campaigns (both parties) come down to “Vote for me – I will take it from THEM and give it to YOU.” They are a little non-specific about the THEM but most people seem to think they understand the YOU.
Despite what they say, the greatest fearmongers are the Democrats (but don’t turn your back on the Republicans either). But listen to what they say. We live in the information age and maybe we can find the information we need to make valid decisions without relying on the mainstream media – who have a very specific agenda and who are giving up entirely on providing the news without spin.
Jonah Goldberg gives todays lesson on the economy from his writings in Townhall.com. For your homework assignment, start to look at S.2433 (Senate Bill 2433), the Global Poverty Act sponsored by Senator Obama. Think about how Senator Obama’s bill will impact our economy, The United Nations, our tax payers. See how following his lead may adopt a ban on small arms (despite our 2nd amendment) and how he wants to pledge billions of dollars to third world countries. Laudable purpose perhaps, but interesting timing considering what he tells us about our economy.
We will talk again soon.
My source: http://townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2008/08/29/economy_of_words?page=full&comments=true
Friday, August 29, 2008
Economy of Words
by Jonah GoldbergThe U.S. economy - yes, that economy - grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate last quarter. This no doubt caused consternation at the highest levels of the Democratic Party, perhaps forcing some to consider a new convention film at the last minute: "Dude, Where's My Recession?"
To hear the Democrats at their convention this week, you would get the sense that a recession is merely a technical term for the worst human misery ever visited upon a once-great people. You'd think Americans were listening to the Democratic speeches as they huddled around their kitchen tables - if they hadn't already been used for firewood - deciding which of their children to pack off to the orphanage and how much tree bark they can afford to eat next week.
Thursday night, Barack Obama proclaimed: "Our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more." He went on to describe an America reminiscent of "The Grapes of Wrath" (if not "Mad Max").
But this was a weeklong theme. Over and over again, the Democrats insisted that the "American dream" is being snuffed out, crushed, beaten, stabbed and quite possibly dismembered in President Bush's West Wing bathtub, where Bush and Dick "The Cleaner" Cheney can dissolve the remains in sulfuric acid.
On Wednesday night, just in case some village waif somewhere hadn't already heard, Joe Biden reminded the world that he rides Amtrak home to Delaware from Washington. Apparently not since Gunga Din has there been a more heroic commute. And we've now learned that when he gazes out the window of his barreling locomotive, he can "almost hear" the conversations in the houses he sees whizzing by.
He "almost hears" things with an awful lot of specificity: "Should Mom move in with us now that Dad's gone? Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars just to fill up the gas tank? How in God's name, with winter coming, how are we gonna heat the home? Another year, no raise? Did you hear? Did you hear they may be cutting our health care at the company?" Super Joe even hears people asking him, "How are we gonna retire, Joe?"
Is there nobody between D.C. and Delaware talking about "American Idol" or their kids' school play or how they're sick of meatloaf?
Obviously, there is real economic pain out there. Food and energy costs are rising too fast and by too much. The mortgage crisis is real.
But while Americans don't like the direction the country is heading, and hate high gas prices, they're pretty satisfied with their lives. Some 94 percent of Americans polled by Harris Interactive this month said they were satisfied with the lives they lead. According to Gallup, only 9 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs and only 13 percent are dissatisfied with their job security. The unemployment rate is at a five-year high of 5.7 percent, but it wasn't long ago when that was considered close to full employment.
"Ladies and gentlemen ..." mourned Senator Biden, the "American dream feels like it's slowly slipping away. ... I've never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up."
Quick question: Was this the same Washington that oversaw the largest expansion of entitlements (a.k.a. the prescription drug benefit) since the Great Society? Was this the Washington that recently started doling out $168 billion in stimulus checks?
Biden's keen ability to hear only awful news is symptomatic of a Democratic Party that is not merely eager to return to the White House, but desperate to launch a new New Deal. The mind-set is on display in almost every speech. Hillary Clinton decried the policy of "giving windfall profits" to oil companies. Clinton seems to believe that all of the money, everywhere, is the government's, and your profits are a gift. Windfall profits are defined as too big a gift from government. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, borrowing a line from Obama, complained that John McCain wants to give "$4 billion in tax breaks for big oil?"
No. McCain wants to lower the corporate tax rate to make us more competitive with our rivals. Yes, oil companies are included, but by this logic (as my colleague Ramesh Ponnuru notes), Obama's middle-class tax cut will be a tax break for hookers and serial killers.
The greatest irony is that the one area where the Democrats are right about American pain - high gas prices - is the one area where they are most reluctant to do anything substantial. Why? Because global warming appears to be their best shot at finding a major crisis to justify a new New Deal.
The bad news for the throngs in Denver is that Americans aren't as miserable as the Democrats need them to be.
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