An Assault on Hard Working Americans

An Assault on Hard Working Americans

There’s a lot of talk about the high taxes that Americans pay and of course, taxes are high, way too high.  As the late Jack Kemp used to say, if you subsidize something you get more of it; if you tax something you get less of it.  The record shows that the higher the taxes become, the higher unemployment is and the weaker our economy is.  Higher taxes mean less jobs and less freedom.  There’s no mystery here.  The record is clear.
 
But today there is something else that is hurting hard working Americans more than taxes.  By hard working Americans, I’m talking about blue collar and white collar Americans who work hard.  They learned, in spite of liberal denials to the contrary, that the way to get ahead in the United States is to work hard and long hours.  Some even take big risks and start companies of their own, and thanks to their hard work and God’s blessings, some succeed.  And when they do, everyone benefits.

These bedrock citizens learned early on to play by the rules, keep their nose clean, and work extra hard to get ahead.  When they were in grade school and high school they had fun, but they read the assignment, did their homework, and probably had a job after school.  The belief that they could get ahead and succeed in life was undoubtedly passed along to them by their parents and hopefully reinforced by a teacher or two.  Their parents lived better than their grandparents, and their grandparents better than their great grandparents.  Now they hope to do the same.  But now, they tell us, the American dream must come to an end.

This sad state of affairs is caused by government.  Not only has President Obama (and his henchmen in Congress—Reid and Pelosi) taken the nation to the brink of economic collapse, they have knowingly and intentionally steered the nation down a path that leads to reduced prosperity and affluence for all Americans.  They are embarrassed by the fact that the United States of America is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world and they are intent on bringing America and Americans down.  They believe America deserves it.  You and I deserve it.  Our children deserve it.  Our grandchildren deserve it.

Although it runs counter to the reality in front of their eyes, they believe that somehow America has achieved prosperity and greatness on the backs of others.  They believe freedom and economics are both a zero sum game.  In other words, if I have more freedom, you must have less.  If I have more money, you must have less.  They have rejected the foundational principle of limited government, they have distaste for the founding fathers, they look upon Christianity as the enemy, and they believe that the United States is a corrupt, bully nation that doesn’t deserve respect, honor, and admiration, as you and I and millions that came before us do.

It’s hard to understand.  As millions of people try to get into the United States and envy the prosperity of our nation—both its breadth and depth—they see the US through bitter and jealous distorted glasses.  Their hard left ideology demands that they ignore reality and push the nation into second class status.  They want to see the US become a second rate power like the failed socialist states of Europe.  And they have found a way besides punishing taxes to do just that.

Today young and middle aged and even older American citizens are being hurt financially more by government regulations than they are by anything else.  The price is enormous.  The United States of America is the most energy rich nation in the world, yet we live like energy paupers. 

Instead of a gasoline price of one dollar per gallon or less at the pump, we pay nearly four dollars per gallon.  And the price of diesel is nearly as bad.  This intentional effort to raise the price of fuel (including heating fuel) is driving up the cost of everything in America and it especially hurts young families who are just getting started in life.

They don’t just pay at the gas pump, they pay sky high prices for heating oil and natural gas.  They pay outrageous prices for cooling their house in the summer.  Their clothes cost more due to transportation costs and the higher cost of petroleum products used in fabrics themselves.  Groceries cost more due to higher shipping costs.  Everything we buy is at an inflated cost because the Obama Administration is blocking the expanded production of oil and natural gas.

It’s no accident that prices have risen.  The President has made it abundantly clear that he would be delighted with European gasoline prices of $10-$15 per gallon.  It is only because he is facing a tough re-election campaign that the President has given lip service to the fracking breakthrough, but it’s just lip service.

This Administration has no intention of allowing the unlimited and unrestricted production of oil that will drive down prices.  An unlimited supply of oil will not meet their objective of forcing you into a little and very unsafe car or out of your home into a small condo.  They want to reduce your standard of living. 

They really don’t want America to prosper.  They don’t want you to live better than your parents, or your children to live better than you do.  What other explanation is there for running up deficits that will be paid for by your children and grandchildren, or instituting Obamacare, or blocking the production of oil and gas?  They only give lip service to the idea of increased prosperity in election years.  They don’t care about the fact that millions of Americans are out of work, except for the fact that it might damage their re-election chances.  We have a generation of leaders who don’t believe in the American dream, don’t see the United States as exceptional, aren’t proud to be Americans, and really just don’t like our nation.

The 2012 election is critically important.  The United States has reached a tipping point.  In 2012 we will either turn back this threat to our freedom and prosperity or our nation will begin an irreversible slide toward totalitarianism.

The founders risked everything to secure freedom for future generations of Americans.  They put their lives and their fortunes on the line and some lost both.  Do we have that depth of commitment to freedom that they had in 1776?  Will God continue to bless America? 

Not since 1776 has our nation faced as great a challenge as this one.  Not even in the depths of World War II was the threat to our freedom and liberty as great as it is today.

Thomas Paine wrote,

            “THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer
            soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
            from the service of their country; but he that stands by it
            now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
            Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have
            this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the
            more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap,
            we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives
            every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper
            price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so
            celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly
            rated.”

It’s 1776 all over again.  Will our children live in freedom and prosper, or will they become serfs of the state?  That’s the decision in 2012.  Let’s work as if it all depends on us to turn our nation back to the principles of freedom and justice, because it does.