By words and deeds, President Obama has cast a pall on American business, jeopardizing the economic recovery.
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 hire more employees.
As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said this week, Obama has neglected job creation and has sown economic uncertainty with burdensome tax and regulatory policies.
Behind it all is the fact that Obama abhors capitalism. If you doubt that, look at his own words — and the words of his wife.
At the NAACP convention this week, Michelle Obama referred to “stubborn inequalities” that “still persist — in education and health, in income and wealth.”
By its very nature, capitalism produces inequality in income and wealth. By and large, those who strive to achieve do better under capitalism than those who do not. Thus, the Obamas made $5.5 million last year, largely on royalties from Obama’s well-written New York Times best-selling books.
We have yet to hear the president or the first lady complain about the inequality in income that suggests.
When talking about financial regulatory reform, Obama said in April, “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”
During the campaign, Obama famously said that he thinks 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.
If you doubt that Obama is pursuing that goal, look at Democratic Sen. Max Baucus’ description of the healthcare legislation as “an income shift.”
Baucus explained that, in recent years, “the maldistribution of income in America has gone up way too much, the wealthy are getting way, way too wealthy, and the middle income class is left behind.” The new healthcare legislation, Baucus promised, “will have the effect of addressing that maldistribution of income in America.” It will, he said, achieve a “shift, a leveling, to help lower income, middle income Americans.”
Obama’s views are not dissimilar to those of Karl Marx, who said, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”
The Soviet Union was founded on that premise and eventually disintegrated because citizens had no incentive to work hard, innovate, or be efficient. In the meantime, Communist Party leaders helped themselves to riches that they claimed no one should have.
Based on the fact that Obama was the most liberal senator and that he spent 20 years listening to the anti-capitalist ravings of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, no one should be surprised at Obama’s leanings. What is surprising is that America elected a president who so totally rejects a fundamental reason this country has been so successful.
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via e-mail. Go here now.