Obama Rejects Capitalist System

Now even liberals are trying to put their finger on what is wrong with President Barack Obama.

Does he lack leadership abilities or competence? Is he arrogant and out of touch with America? Is he a pleaser first and foremost, rather than someone who cares about getting the job done? Does he not understand how the economy works?

“‘Yes, we can!’ has devolved into ‘Hey, we might,’” Maureen Dowd wrote in The New York Times.

While there is truth to all of these diagnoses, they miss the heart of the problem: Obama believes in wealth redistribution instead of wealth creation.

Obama

During the campaign, Obama famously said the economy works best when “we spread the wealth around.” In a Sept. 6, 2001 radio interview, Obama expressed regret that the Supreme Court hadn’t engaged in wealth redistribution.

Many have a hard time understanding how Obama could hold that view of the world. On Fox News’ “The Factor,” Bill O’Reilly often asks guests how Obama, if he wants to be re-elected, can cling to failed economic policies.

For the answer, look to the fact that the Soviets clung to communism despite its obvious economic failure. Like the Democrats who want to provide coverage for all Americans, the Soviets had good intentions. They reasoned that if the government ran everything and distributed wealth equally, everyone would be happy. But under their government-run economy, Soviets had no incentive to work hard or to produce. The government paid their salaries regardless. Eventually, the system collapsed.

Based on the fact that Obama spent 20 years listening to the anti-capitalist ravings of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, no one should be surprised at Obama’s leanings. As it turns out, Wright was a compass to understanding the future president. But as noted in my story "Media Blackout on Rev. Wright Started in 2007," the media suppressed the truth about Wright and his connection to Obama.

For three months during the campaign, I wrote stories quoting Wright’s anti-America sermons. No one in the media would pick them up. By the time they did, Obama was ahead of Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

From the healthcare industry to Wall Street, Obama never misses a chance to demonize business. From taxation to regulation to healthcare, he has undercut incentives for businesses to thrive and to hire more employees. Instead of improving the economy, he has made it worse.

Obama may be presiding over the decline of America, but that does not seem to concern him. He has spent years apologizing for America. At his nuclear proliferation conference, Obama told Americans, “Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower.”

By its very nature, capitalism produces inequality in income and wealth. In general, those who strive to achieve do better under capitalism than those who do not. Obama rejects this underlying premise of the capitalist system that is a key to this country’s success.

His views are not dissimilar to those of Karl Marx, who said, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” And that is what is wrong with President Obama.

Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. He is a New York Times best-selling author of books on the Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. His latest, "The Secrets of the FBI," has just been published. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via email. Go Here Now.