I have several friends who hold liberal beliefs and vote Democratic because they long to see “justice.” They were overjoyed by the election of Barack Obama, because finally we would have a President (aided by a Democrat super-majority in Congress) who “gets it.” They believed that the upper middle and upper classes had unfairly fattened themselves off the economic booms of the ’90’s and ’00’s had an obligation to share their prosperity with others who were less fortunate. Of my friends who are well-compensated professionals, I actually had more than one tell me that they were sometimes embarrassed by their new homes, cushy salaries, generous lines of credit, and the overall easiness with which they were able to afford a very comfortable lifestyle.
They envisioned an Obama Administration that would end corruption, stop the revolving door between government service and lobbying, hold the banking and mortgage industries accountable for mortgage fraud, protect consumers from predatory lending scams, and help existing borrowers achieve a fair and equitable settlement for their indebtedness. They envisioned a government that would protect workers and shore-up American manufacturing and industrial production. They envisioned a government that would finally be able to deliver affordable (or, for the indigent, free) health care for all Americans. They anticipated a level playing field, and a government whose policies empowered and benefited everyday Americans instead of corporate cronies or political allies.
So where are we today, after three and a half years of a “justice” Presidency?
US Median Income Lowest since 1995
Rich-Poor Gap Widens to Most Since 1967 as Income Falls
Food-stamp use reached a record 46.7 million people in June 2012
More Americans went on disability than found jobs in last 3 months
We’re told, with a straight face, that we should be patient because President Obama’s economic growth policies from 2009-2010 haven’t really taken effect — while the refusal of Republicans to approve more “stimulus” boondoggles in 2011 and 2012 immediately put a damper on our economic recovery.
The truth of course is that we are witnessing the first Presidential Administration in my lifetime that openly disparages entrepreneurs and small business owners. It’s like that infamous ‘demotivational’ poster: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” As long as business owners are being beaten, their morale – and their willingness to grow their businesses – will not improve. And neither will our economy.
So we are left with “justice” that, instead of ‘inflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted,’ ends up schmoozing cronies, attacking and demonizing successful middle class professionals and business owners, and leaving the poor worse off than they were before. Everyone is poorer, but it is by far the poorest who are suffering the most. I run into people on a regular basis who had a decent job and a little money in the bank four years ago, but today are literally struggling to pay their utility bills and scrape together enough for a weekly trip to the grocery store.
Is it even possible for the government, guided by a small group of highly educated, enlightened elitists, to administer a “just” society?
I think it’s fair to say that the combination of crony corporatism, collectivist indoctrination, heavy-handed regulation, and suppression of middle class entrepreneurism favored by our current crop of leftist/progressive intellectuals is failing miserably in its goal of creating a just society. Thankfully we have the opportunity on Nov. 4 to let them know what we really think.
