So now the president is a committed man of the left. No longer is he faking moderation or even trying to bring the nation "together." Nope. As he made clear in his inauguration speech, Barack Obama is dedicating himself to achieving "social justice" no matter what the cost.
And the cost is high. The annual federal deficit is more than $1 trillion, with the national debt approaching $17 trillion. Just last week, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office warned once again that federal spending is "unsustainable." That means if government spending is not curtailed and quickly, the U.S. dollar could collapse.
But you would not know that by listening to the president's address. He was decidedly upbeat when telling the nation that more needs to be done (code for spending) to ensure "equality."
That's the big leftwing word these days: "equality."
But can we be real here for a moment? Does anyone, even those of you living in San Francisco, believe that an American who earns a Ph.D. in economics is going to be equal to the high school dropout in the marketplace? Anyone? Bueller?
So let's drop the equality business at least in the capitalist arena. The strong and smart prosper; the weak and lazy fail.
But not in Obama world. Not there. The president sees his mandate as "providing" for those who can't cut it. He is the biggest spender of all the presidents in the nation's history by far.
Obama is proud of his belief that government knows best. When he told the world that individuals are not totally responsible for their personal success, that government has a major role in it, many Americans were taken aback. But Obama sincerely believes that.
Let me prove him wrong with a vivid comparison.
In 1979, a man named Rupert Murdoch started a company that today employs 48,000 workers worldwide. The employees of News Corporation, of which I am one, pay taxes and support families. The company gives us an opportunity to succeed on our own without any financial assistance from the government. In turn, we provide assets to the government. We don't take from it.
Some of our tax dollars go to pay the salaries and benefits of government workers. Since he was elected, Obama has increased the federal payroll by more than 130,000. Most of those folks work hard, but again, they are paid by private sector workers.
So which scenario is better for America? The private sector situation, or the expanding government workforce?
If you don't know the answer to that question, you don't want to know.
Obama is a utopian at heart. He wants to improve the lives of the downtrodden, which is a good thing. But he doesn't understand that damaging the free marketplace in pursuit of "social justice" will eventually harm those he wants to help.
The nation's crushing debt is a tsunami brewing offshore. Let's hope Obama wises up before we all get swept away.
