“You have brains in your head.
“You have feet in your shoes.
“You can steer yourself
“any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” – Dr. Seuss, Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
If Barack Obama has his way, this rhyme will go something like:
“You may have brains in your head.
“You may have feet in your shoes.
“But we can steer you better
“in the direction which we choose. We’re on your side. And we know better than you know. And WE are the guys who’ll decide where you go.”
In a recent speech in Greensboro, North Carolina, Senator Obama (D-IL) chastised Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for favoring free market solutions to the current credit crunch:
“George Bush called this the ownership society. But, what he really meant was you’re on your own society. If you lose your job, you’re on your own. If you’re child in poverty, pull yourself up by your boot straps, you’re on your own.
“If you got lured in by deceptive mortgage practices, you’re on your own. And, John McCain apparently wants to continue this. Whether the rest of America is struggling with rising tuition, rising health care costs, plant closings, or crumbling schools the answer is you’re on your own.”
Now, the truth is: Mr. Obama’s tirade against the basic tenets of “rugged individualism” strikes at the very heart of what personal freedom is all about, doesn’t it?
Is it really the government’s responsibility to provide every American the job of his or her heart’s desire? To keep children out of poverty – no matter how hard their own parents try to plunge them into it? To pay for every homeowner’s mortgage? To pay for every student’s tuition? To pay for everyone’s healthcare? To penalize businesses trying to escape the government’s onerous taxes and regulations?
While he was busy telling hard-working Americans that they are unable to help themselves, Obama barely touched on the real issue of this campaign: is Big Government going to do everything for everyone? In fact, can it? Or, really, even should it?
And when will the government take responsibility for the problems it has created itself, instead of telling us how more government is the answer?
For each issue Obama mentioned, less government interference is the answer, not more. Want to create more jobs? Spur economic growth in the private sector by implementing pro-growth tax policies and lifting business regulations. Want to keep children out of poverty? Implement tax reform so families aren’t handing over half their income to Big Government. Want to cut the costs of tuition? Stop selling out to teachers unions and educrats, and reign in education spending. Want to cut health care costs? Lift the government’s Big Monopoly on healthcare which limits competition. Want to keep businesses in America? Cut the highest corporate tax rates in the world.
Because, you see, we do have brains in our heads… we do have feet in our shoes… and we can steer ourselves in any direction we choose – if only Big Government would get out of our way and let each of us, on our own, decide where we want to go!
ALG Perspective: Americans need to stop being told that individuals don’t matter, that choices don’t matter, and that there are no consequences for our actions. Obama’s America is helpless, a society that cannot make ends meet unless governmental paternalism intervenes to “lift all boats.” However, it is free markets and individual liberty that provide the rising tide he mentions, not Big Government. All Obama is offering are yet more government “solutions” to problems which the government itself has created and is perpetuating to secure its own perverse power base.
