Why wanting Democrats to fail means wanting the economy to work

The Hill ran a surprising snippet about White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Gibbs ranted about CNBC host Rick Santelli and conservative talk show icon Rush Limbaugh, both of whom have criticized President Barack Obama and the Pelosi-Reid cabal’s economic policies. I don’t ever recall hearing the White House assail media personalities even when I hoped for it, but this is change so I figure it’s part of the package. Asked about Limbaugh, Gibbs told The Hill, "He's got, I understand, a fairly popular radio show." Can a press secretary really be that uninformed? "Fairly popular"?

At first it surprised me that this administration, fawned over by media shills like ABC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and others, doesn’t get it. Then I realized Gibbs and crew do get it. Here’s why.

Small businesses and mid-sized corporations are already under the gun from the government. Ask any executive or entrepreneur how much time and money the government gobbles up in the form of paperwork, taxes, and liability protection. One of the biggest jokes is Sarbanes-Oxley (2002). Here’s the punch line, straight from the Securities and Exchange Commission website: “The Act mandated a number of reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, enhance financial disclosures and combat corporate and accounting fraud, and created the ‘Public Company Accounting Oversight Board,’ also known as the PCAOB, to oversee the activities of the auditing profession.” Well, I guess we’re laughing to keep from crying over that one. This act simply produced more paperwork and expense for honest corporations and we all know what it did for dishonest corporations.

The policies set forth by the Democrats, coupled with a do-nothing spending bill that simply (and meagerly) rewards voter constituencies are hostile to the marketplace. A new requirement for employers to pay 65 percent of health insurance costs for dismissed workers is a perfect example. Is it compassionate? Yes. Is it hostile to employers? Yes. Companies are slashing pay and benefits across the board, trying to protect jobs. They do not need another obstacle.

Energy policy will raise your utility and travel costs—that’s a given. Hostility to fossil fuels sounds lovely in concept. The truth is we need fossil fuels as part of our energy mix.

Then there’s the economic class warfare the Democrats are so fond of. Couples making more than $250,000 will see an increase in taxes. Problem is this income group already pays the lion’s share of the taxes and receives a flea’s share of the return. Let me tell you what I learned when I was poor: when the rich have it bad, the poor have it worse. Nanny Nancy and Pappy Harry may pledge Utopia, but there is not a single instance of an enduring Utopia in all of human history. We are, after all, animals. We do the best we can.

I have not seen a single instance of real change and do not anticipate one. Real change in Washington would occur if the federal government were capable of cutting its own spending. Real change would occur if there were a sense of real ethics in Washington. There isn’t. Members of Congress just gave themselves a raise as the rest of the country struggles.

Many of my friends and almost all my family members are Democrats. A loved one who is gay recently told me he believed Obama would confer rights gays are seeking, such as benefits for mates. I reminded my friend Obama stated during the debates marriage is between a man and a woman. I also reminded my friend the very liberal state of California voted against gay marriage.

Another loved one who has been a Democrat all his life is completely muddled about what Obama is doing. “He’s going to go line by line and cut spending!” Right. Our new president has already committed to spend more than any president in American history, and if media and government were truthful, the spending makes no sense. An earmark is an earmark like a rock is a rock.

Yet another friend who is a judge told me, “Democrats care about the people.”

That of course is the greatest myth of all. Because the current policies and plans, if enacted, will do more damage to the people than any others in my lifetime. Many of the past Democratic policies under presidents like Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter did exactly that.

In a recent column I said every time the president opens his mouth the stock market needs Prozac. I might have attributed all these foolish policies to inexperience, or to lack of a job requiring you to actually produce something for pay (an idea foreign to all politicians).

A Wall Street Journal editorial summed up the Democrats' plan: "[t]heir assault on business and investors is delaying a recovery and ensuring that the expansion will be weaker than it should be when it finally does arrive."

 I think I’ve seen the light. I think this administration is the entity that wants this economy to fail. How else can I explain the increasing presence of government in all aspects of our lives—healthcare, workplace, personal income? And in that context, Obama-Pelosi-Reid policy makes perfect sense.
We have built a government the size of a beached whale blistering on a salad plate-sized spit of sand. Why would anyone want a government to succeed in searching for a bigger dead whale?

Update on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 1:59PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

Lots of other columns on this topic today,and a very clever one is listed at a blog I enjoy (and not just because of the intriguing quote by D. H. Lawrence on the header):

Never Yet Melted by David Zincavage
"Draft Limbaugh for 2012"

http://neveryetmelted.com/2009/03/03/draft-limbaugh-for-2012/