Obama has an interesting perspective and it is myopic

Politics 5 comments

Here is what the President said at a recent fundraiser:

“We’ve got one party in Congress right now that has been captured by ideologues whose core premise is ‘no,'” Obama told Democratic donors in Maryland on Monday. “Who fundamentally believe that the problem is government; who don’t believe that we as a community — as a country — have any serious role to play in giving people a hand up.”

He’s right, there are ideologues on the right … and on the left. In fact two parties have been captured by ideologues.

Is there anything wrong with believing government is the problem when others believe government is the primary solution?

“… who don’t believe as a country we have a serious role to play in giving people a hand?”

I find that insulting even though I don’t consider myself part of the far right. Our government (the citizens who pay taxes) gives people a helping hand in more ways than we can count or even know about.

There is a big difference between a helping hand and a hand out or intrusive control over citizens lives. There is a big difference between a helping hand and creating dependency.

Throwing money at problems, creating new “helping hand” programs without assessing the effectiveness of all we already have is foolish. Does anyone seriously believe that the massive bureaucracy of government, the endless regulation, the inefficiency and poorly managed costs of government, the politically motivated decisions is the best way to give a helping hand? Well, yes they do and that apparently includes our President.

This attitude merely demonstrates why this President is not a leader or problem solver. There is middle ground Mr President; your job is to find it, but your ideology seems to be getting in the way.

5 comments

  1. The President let this slip, “…who don’t believe that we as a community — as a country — have any serious role to play in giving people a hand up.”

    President Obama cannot or does not acknowledge the difference between a community and a country.

    One of the fundamentals of conservatism is the belief that the level of community closest to the individual is usually the most effective. First, the family and friends. Second, the local community: church, school, civic organizations. Third, the local government, town, city, county. Fourth, the individual state. Fifth, the federal government.

    President Obama has lept from the world of community to the pinnacle of federal power. He earnestly, or cynically, believes that the federal government should be a primary instrument in social reform.

    “We are here to help.” Families at their best can deliver on that promise. At every successive level removed from the family, that promise is less and less likely to succeed.

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  2. Why is it that Thomas Piketty and Pope Francis can be so keenly cognizant of the realities of today’s world and you cannot?

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    1. What reality is that? One where people expect handouts because that is what they are “entitled” to? One where sacrifice and hard work and picking yourself up after failure are foreign concepts? Here’s the thing that most people have forgotten, the definition of success for generations of immigrants was twofold: a) I’m successful if I take one small step up the economic ladder from the last generation b) I’m successful if I put my children in a position to take one small step up the economic ladder from me. Notice that nowhere does that definition have anything to do with becoming rich in a short period of time? I travel a lot and I talk with many cab and “black car” drivers, most of them recent immigrants from third world countries. These conversations have given me hope for the future of our country because, to a man, these immigrants are not afraid of hard work for long hours and appreciate the opportunity our freedom and capitalist economy provides them and their family. I was in Ohio recently and my cab driver was from Somalia. He had just moved to Cleveland from Columbus to try driving a cab because he didn’t enjoy his previous job as a security guard. He was working 15 hour days and couldn’t be happier because he had the opportunity to leave a job he didn’t like and POTENTIALLY make more money if he worked hard enough. His vision was to live a life of his choosing, have a stable roof over his head and potentially provide an opportunity for his children to get an education… That is the American dream.

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