Friday, July 27, 2012

How Obama Committed A 'Fatal Political Blunder'

A thoughtful young man by the name of Andre Watkins sends along these cogent thoughts about Presidents Obama's infamous "you didn't do that" remarks:

The President has accomplished something truly remarkable with this speech: he managed to take a fact that is mundane and inarguable and turn it into a potentially fatal political blunder.

When individuals (whether successful or unsuccessful) pay their taxes, they do so with the weary hope that the government they are supporting will be a careful and honest steward of their contribution by: establishing justice (legal and regulatory systems), insuring domestic tranquility (law enforcement), providing for the common defense (military), and promoting the general welfare (public utilities, efficient and effective education system, a solvent social safety net).

It is when the government violates that trust by instituting an arbitrary and corrupt tax code, special interest spending, irresponsible entitlement promises, and wealth redistribution that “We the people” begin to question the legitimacy of our social contract.

Luckily, whether one builds a business with one’s own two hands or one utilizes the “general welfare” promoted by the government, the Constitution guarantees that no person will “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The Founders understood that property ownership (including land, a house, a business, a car, a bank account, a retirement plan, etc.) is essential for the preservation of liberty.

What is concerning about the President’s remark is that it gives many people the impression that he discounts the importance of the “right to property.” It is universally agreed that property can only be “built” within the context of the “general welfare.” No rational person would argue the contrary. So why would the President bother wasting valuable campaign time stating the obvious?

Because he is complicit (along with many in the government from both parties over many decades) in abusing the trust of the people by twisting the tax code, passing debt along to future generations, spending trillions on special interests, creating and expanding insolvent entitlement programs, punishing success in the name of fairness, and shielding individuals from the natural consequences of their freely chosen decisions.

Thus, to disguise his guilt, he points to justifiable government interventions (roads, bridges, the internet, fire departments) in the hopes we will forget about the burdensome, ineffective, corrupt monstrosities that are the Stimulus Package and Obamacare.

The current President is not the first such offender, but there is a rising belief in America that he may be one of the worst.

In November, We the People, speak.

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