Politicians are no longer consistent. It’s why so many long for the days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill. Gone are the good guys who could disagree on policies but have great love for their country and compromise in a way that would benefit the American people.
After being an advocate for banning offshore drilling, George Walker Bush has decided this week that he’s a proponent of it. John McCain has done the same flip-flop. Of course, Speaker Pelosi could never look out for the American people who are feeling pain at the gas pump, and agree to negotiate some sort of legislation both sides can agree on. Her answer to the president’s request was no. But don’t feel too sorry for the President. When his brother Jeb was governor of Florida and facing a contentious campaign, both Brothers Bush decided no offshore drilling was a good idea.
All the while, governments that hate us are receiving our treasure because America chooses not to be serious on anything anymore. How tiring is it to hear both sides of the political spectrum complain about the rich oil companies that are making record profits. How many decades were they in just the opposite position and we didn’t hear them complaining at all. Our country is built on capitalism and how we’ve developed the European illness for anti-business sentiment is beyond me. What makes America great and what continues to attract still more people, begging to enter our borders, it is that we are a nation that offers hope and opportunity for anyone to come here from any class, any race or religion and to succeed here, when in where they came from, it was an impossibility.
Capitalism can go wrong sometimes, but the new populous view of hating big business is outrageous and downright un-American. Obama claims he’s going to penalize big oil by taxing them. Has anyone ever known a major corporation that pays their own taxes? No, they pass it on to the consumer. So his ideas would only add up to higher gas prices so that the consumer pays yet another new tax. This idea of liberals is almost socialist. We’ve finally started catching up with gas prices in Europe because that’s become our new model. Punishing success is never a good idea. Do I think corporations should have offshore tax bases, no. But we once had a nation that paid homage and respect to those among us who chose to work harder and longer to achieve higher goals.
It seems that at this point in our nation, we’ll need to retrain and teach a whole generation to understand the principles of capitalism. Yes, we always need government regulations to monitor activities of our nation’s superior and powerful industries but we also need to show respect for ingenuity. We have Bill Gates and Microsoft because of American might and desire for success. For every Enron and Arthur Andersen, there is an Exxon, Microsoft or small business in your little town that is fighting and working to become a top employer and supplier around the world.
Capitalism is still the answer to our problems, not the problem. Our politicians are no longer part of the solution and are joining in popular chimes about how evil industry is. We should replace our politicians on both sides of the aisle with leaders who put America first and do not pander to the lowest common denominator among us: Fear-mongers.
